star trek | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Fanboys

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Darren

Fanboys is a film that is borderline mediocre, but the tragedy is that it actually could have been really good. It’s quite strange, because the movie seems intent to straddle two audiences – aiming at once for both cult geek cred and mainstream appeal. Of course, the paradox of such an approach is that it frequently ends up alienating both core groups. The film is arguably too deeply entrenched in geek culture to ever find a large mainstream audience, but it’s also far too bland, safe and stereotypical for a geek audience. So it clearly hopes to please everyone, but winds up satisfying no one. Which is a shame, because it seems like it’s actually having a great deal of fun.

Indulge your Dark Side...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Avery Brooks, chris pine, Darth Maul, Epix, fanboys, fans, film, Geek, geekdom, geeks, Harry Knowles, Harvey Weinstein, james t. kirk, Movies, non-review review, Ray Park, review, Scott Bakula, star trek, William Shatner | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut (Review)

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

The Impossible Astronaut originally aired in 2011.

Rory, would you mind going with her?

Yeah, a bit.

Then I appreciate it all the more.

– The Doctor and Rory

While Steven Moffat’s first season as showrunner followed the same basic format as the seasons run by Russell T. Davies, his second up-ends that. Viewers had become so conditioned to that structure that The Impossible Astronaut proves quite a shock. Far from an accessible and enjoyable romp in the style of Rose or New Earth or Smith & Jones or Partners in Crime or The Eleventh Hour, The Impossible Astronaut jumps right into the middle of things.

Taking advantage of the fact that this is the first time since New Earth (and only the second time in the revival) that a season premiere hasn’t been burdened with the weight of introducing a new Doctor or companion, Moffat is able to really mess up the structure of the season. Indeed, you might go so far as to suggest that he’s reversed it. Moffat’s second season ends with a one-part adventure that introduces us to a new era and new mission statement, but opens with a bombastic two-part climax.

It’s certainly ambitious.

Cowboys and aliens…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Davies, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Impossible Astronaut, Mark Sheppard, Moffat, review, River Song, rory williams, russell t. davies, star trek, stephen moffat, steven moffat, Television, the impossible astronaut, United States, waters of mars | 15 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Rollerball

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Darren

MGM has been running a rather wonderful sci-fi season this past week, screening classics like Robocop along with smaller cult films, like Rollerball. One of the great things about having channels like this that it gives you a chance to sit down and watch what you wouldn’t normally – there’s something specially about stumbling across a gem on television that you might otherwise have missed. In fairness, Rollerball isn’t quite that gem, but it’s an entertaining high concept science-fiction ideas and some great direction, even if it does seem a little bit heavy-handed and cheesy from time to time.

Is Jonathon all burned out?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, films, James Caan, Jonathon, Movie, Movies, non-review review, Norman Jewison, review, Rollerball, star trek, Video game | 2 Comments »

When it Hits the Fan: What Do Creators Owe Fans?

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Darren

Fans are a very dangerous group to court – although I suppose that’s implied, what with the word being an abbreviation of “fanatic”. Sure, they’ll follow a particular project with zeal and enthusiasm that most producers could only dream of, and (perhaps) prove an invaluable marketing tool in this era of the viral campaign – at the very least, they are more likely to invest a lot more money in your product than a regular consumer. However, that investment comes with a downside – one that I wonder how much creators ultimately end up resenting. To call it “demand” perhaps understates the matter – after all, plenty of non-fanatic movie fans wait for the big blockbusters of the year – but there tends to be a note of what is best described as “possessiveness” or “entitlement” that comes with a large invested fan group. And is that necessarily a good thing? Do these fans feel that these creators “owe” them something for their extended loyalty? Is it fair to demand that from any producer or writer or director?

Heated fan disagreements sometimes get out of hand...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Alex Kurtzman, Christopher Nolan, damon lindelof, J. J. Abrams, leap year, Magnum P.I, matthew goode, Roberto Orci, star trek, Star Trek: Countdown, star trek: the original series | Leave a comment »

Keeping Trek: Thoughts on Continuity…

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Darren

Sky is showing Star Trek all this week, and I’ve had the chance to catch it again – great movie. However, it’s got me thinking about the big furry beast which is continuity. Obviously continuity is a big thing within films – making sure the actors and sets look the same from shot to shot – but it becomes a whole other beast when you kick that up a level and are dealing with continuity between distinct individual works. Take the whole Star Trek saga, for a moment. Assuming you discount the hundreds of books, the entire animated series, the unproduced spin-off, various tie-ins and specials, you’re still left with over 600 episodes of television filmed over forty years and eleven feature-length movies which all have to line up nearly perfectly. And if they don’t, you get rampaging fans complaining it’s the end of the world. As much as my inner nerd loves that sort of continuity, I have to confess that I really don’t mind too much if one or two things are sacrificed in order to tell a good story.

Can we put that entire movie where Kirk kills God out of continuity?

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: background, canon, continuity, films, star trek, star trek universe, star trek: enterprise, star trek: the original series, stories, storytelling, Television | Leave a comment »

The Best of All Possible Worlds? The Legacy of the Borg…

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Darren

Earlier today I posted a retrospective of The Best of Both Worlds, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary this month. I discussed how it managed to basically rewrite the Star Trek rulebook, introducing the franchise’s most iconic villains since the sixties. However, I’ve always found the Borg, those utterly terrifying cybernet hive-minded creatures, fascinating for another reason: they are a text book example of how a long-running franchise can take a viable and fascinating antagonist and then run them into the ground.

Why Borg?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: borg, borg queen, star trek, star trek: first contact, star trek: the next generation, star trek: voyager, the borg, tthe collective, villain decay | Leave a comment »

The Best of Both Worlds: A Retrospective

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Darren

I am Locutus – of Borg. Resistance – is futile. Your life, as it has been – is over. From this time forward, you will service – us.

– Locutus introduces himself

I only found out last week that The Best of Both Worlds is twenty years old this June. For those unfamiliar with the title, it’s the two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which represented both the franchise’s first real cliffhanger (there was a two-part episode of the original series, but that was simply to incorporate a framing device around the original unaired pilot, The Cage – which featured an (almost) completely different cast) and the first real showcase of perhaps the franchise’s most iconic antagonists, the Borg. It’s also a damn good two hours of television.

Picard could always spot a square...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: best of both worlds, borg, jean-luc picard, patrick stewart, picard, retrospective, star trek, star trek: the next generation, sttng, Television, the best of both worlds, the borg, the next generation, tng | 5 Comments »

Did Paramount Back the Wrong Horse in the Oscar Race?

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Darren

It’s fun to analyse the Oscars. It’s even more fun before any individual awards have been handed out. I’ve already given my thoughts on the Best Picture race and the acting nods, but I was just thinking specifically about Paramount’s Oscar campaign this year. Making the infamously misguided decision to champion The Lovely Bones at the expense of all others, they were left empty-handed and red-faced when the film imploded. In hindsight, it looks like they made the wrong choice in pushing forward their prospective Best Picture nominees. Maybe they would have been better-pushed to get behind Star Trek?

Saorse wasn't the only lost during The Lovely Bones...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, academy, best picture, best picture nominees, Oscars, paramount, paramount pictures, Shutter Island, star trek, the lovely bones | Leave a comment »

My Top 10 Movies of 2009

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Darren

We’ve known this was coming for a while. From the moment I ran through the Irish Times’ Top 20 Films of the Decade through to my own Top 50 Films of the Decade (why stop at 20?) and even on my Top 10 TV Shows of the Decade. It seems only fair and natural to offer a top ten countdown of my favourite movies from the past twelve months. I make no apologies for how populist or anti-populist the list may seem, and I hope that it doesn’t offend anyone – I’m just a nerd on the interweb afterall. If you think I missed something, or overpraised something, just let me know in the comments below. Cheers. Now enjoy.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: coralive, doubt, films, frost nixon, frost/nixon, inglorious bastards, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, moon, Movies, star trek, the good the bad and the weird, the good the band and the weird, the hangover, the top ten films of the decade, the top ten movies of the year, top ten of the year, up, year in review | 1 Comment »

Is Spock Superman?

Posted on December 5, 2009 by Darren

While watching Star Trek with my family over the weekend, I noticed something. Something small, probably insignificant. But you know how things are. They grab you and they stick in the back of you mind like a piece of thread, slowly unravelling over time until all of a sudden you have some sort of epiphany. My epiphany is this: what if Spock – as imagined by JJ Abrams – is Superman? Yes, the four-colour comic book character. Or – at the very least – a stand-in for him? It might not be as crazy as you think…

Okay, it’s probably as crazy as you think. But hopefully not crazier.