Critical Film Condition

Because there’s a movie for every situation.

Review: “Star Trek”

Posted by guddy On May - 7 - 2009

star-trek_enterpriseJ.J. Abrams, live long and prosper.

Before I bore you with all my writing here on CFC, let me clarify that “Star Trek” is good… So good, in fact, to be hailed by me as the best movie this year so far. Now, if you haven’t yer run to the theater to see it, let me now clarify to you why I stay firm to my opinion on that matter.

While other blockbusters this year have surprised me time and again, J.J. Abrams “Star Trek” manages to round everything up into 140 minutes of awesomeness that leaves you wanting more and more. It is one of those movies that you wish didn’t have an ending.

It isn’t a sequel… It isn’t a prequel either. “Star Trek” is a reboot with room for re-imagining of the Star Trek universe, not ignoring all the TV Series and Feature Films released in the past, while at the same time giving it breathing room for a whole new experience. The plot might seem complicated at times, but somehow screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman manage to pull you back into the storyline constantly, and while revealing anything would spoil a great deal, it’s enough to say that, when you travel back in time, you can change the future in any way you want. From that premise, this new “Star Trek” allows itself a great number of surprises that don’t offend fans of the classics and keeps those new to the franchise (yours truly included) interested.

The cast is brilliant, naturally with Chris Pine as Jim Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock standing out. But the supporting roles, including Leonard Nimoy, his old role as Spock as well (time travel), support the main characters wonderfully. The cast seems well integrated into the story, and at the core of it, which is the development of Spock and Kirk’s friendship, the movie already shines due to Pine’s and Quinto’s dedication to their roles. Eric Bana is a kick-ass, memorable vilain as captain Nero… Something that sets the darker, epic tone of the adventure. Special mention is duly given to Karl Urban, who is absolutely amazing as Leonard “Bones” McCoy and Winona Ryder, who looks fantastic as Amanda Grayson (Spock’s human mother). Oh, and Zoë Saldana looks hot.

But PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t listen to critics who say that this movie is good because it has good character development but lacks action. For christ-sakes, shit blows up every five minutes!!! Are these people crazy??? “Star Trek” is a constant roller-coaster ride, and it isn’t good, it is AMAZING because it features awesome action sequences blended into the epic story and the fantastic character development. And by epic I mean that “Star Trek” has enough scale to dwarf any other iteration of the series by a light-year. We were already flabergasted with the first half-hour, introduction of the characters, story set-up, etc. But after we see the USS Enterprise for the first time, we know we’re in for a treat. The revelation of the Enterprise is sure to stick with you for the following days, and it sets the tone and scale of the rest of movie, as well as a benchmark for other blockbusters hitting the silver-screen this year. Describing it really lacks a better word than amazing, both for geeks and “regular” people alike.

The thing with “Star Trek” is that it starts awesome, shifts into second gear, and with every act, every new character, every revelation, it just keeps getting better and better until it ends. The costumes are an homage to the Gene Roddenberry classic, but don’t look tacky, the characters are all there, but somehow develop themselves differently due to the new parallel storyline that is being set-up, and the action is not silly, but amazing nonetheless. Next to me was a friend who is an insane Trekkie, and he was as amazed as I was, so it must mean something. Why is “Star Trek” the best movie so far this year for me? Because in every aspect I can think of, it absolutely rocks… And that is all a movie should need.

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Popularity: 12%

O.o.m.A.: The Star Trek Premiere

Posted by kristie On April - 9 - 2009

The excitement about the new Star Trek movie has just been killing the guys. And I completely agree, it looks monumental. Here are some pics from the Premiere in Sydney. Enjoy!

Guddy’s Take: apparently they said that they were showing a special screening of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and then BOOM, showed the new “Star Trek” instead… Pretty wicked.

I think this will be the summer’s best movie, maybe one of the best this year. And by the way: for those not so well informed, this really nice guy on the first picture plays the genocidal, planet-destroying, tattoo-faced villain in the movie :-)

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Popularity: 5%

Trailer Report: “Star Trek”

Posted by guddy On March - 6 - 2009


Jeeeeeeez!!! With every trailer J. J. Abrams makes me a bigger trekkie, and I hate him for that :-)

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But seriously, this full-length trailer does, well, what such a trailer must do (reveal the plot, show awesome effects shot, etc.) but it hypes “Star Trek” to an epic level that I have never seen in the franchise before. While the old Star Trek series and movies were simple, sometimes good sci-fi movies and episodes, this new rendition promises to be the biggest imagining of futuristic sci-fi ever (“Star Wars” wasn’t in the future, so it doesn’t count).

Don’t waste any more time in your miserable lives and watch it… It’s worth every second.

Popularity: 3%

Trailer Report: “Funny People”

Posted by guddy On February - 24 - 2009

funny_peopleJudd Apatow, of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” fame, has a good thing going for him: all of his latest comedies were successful, he’s married to Leslie Mann, and he’s good friends with rising star Seth Rogen. His latest comedy, “Funny People”, tries to set a little foot on the dramatic side of things, and it succeeds to a certain extent.

Adam Sandler plays a stand-up comedian that finds out he is sick, and about to die. His best friends, played by Seth Rogen, Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill,  get very depressed in their own unique kind of way, but more importantly, he tries to set things right to his now-married ex-girlfriend, played by Leslie Mann.

The problem with the trailer is that it seems Apatow tries too hard to set the (very good) dramatic tone, but forgets the comedy along the way. It’s obvious that he intends to do that: Sandler and Rogen play stand-up comedians and Eric Bana, who plays Leslie Mann’s husband, tries to be the funniest man in the movie. The jokes just don’t work that well.

The link for the standard definition trailer is down, so I’m posting the link to the HD trailer. the 480p version should work fine on any computer:

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/funny-people/33221/main

Popularity: 6%