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threeplusfire) wrote2009-05-13 12:07 am
threeplusfire) wrote2009-05-13 12:07 am
Officer, I would like to buy you a drink
Tonight we saw the Star Trek movie again, but this time in IMAX. (The Saturday show we were forced into sitting in the front row and enduring poor angles - this was much better.) It was pretty awesome, but not the most awesome part of the evening. The most truly awesome moment of the evening involved a little schadenfreude but it was so, so necessary.
The IMAX is down at the Bullock museum, and we lucked into great free parking. So we were driving home on MLK, headed towards Mopac. (Austin residents will note that west of Guadalupe on MLK there are a couple lights close together before the road turns downhill towards Lamar.) The light past Guadalupe was yellow and so we came to a dead stop just before it turned red. A black Volvo roared past us in the right lane after we stopped and ran a completely red light AND changed lanes without signaling. Mike exclaimed fail! But from our left, first at the light, a police car peeled out after them and zoomed up close behind.
We waited with breathless anticipation, but they went over the hilltop without any clue. We wondered if the police would pull over the jackass in the Volvo, because surely they would have to be blind to miss a guy running a light that was long red. We crested the hill. Just as the road curves past the KVUE studios, we saw the greatest, most awesome flashing red and blue lights. As we drove past, one officer had the driver's door open and a second was looking in the passenger side with a flashlight.
I shouted "YES!!" with as much glee as as a Kentucky Derby winner. How many times have I seen someone do something unbearably dangerous and stupid, and wished a police car was there to see it? Finally, finally - some jackass moron driver got what he deserved. I may have even cackled with glee.
Now - about Star Trek:
I've never been a big Star Trek fan - sure Spock is awesome, Picard had good lines, tribbles are cute, fandom, etc. But it never moved me much. I went to see this without expectation and came away mightily pleased overall. It's a brilliant, brilliant re-boot of the series that allows the writers such freedom to do new stories and yet it is in complete keeping with the universe already established. I was impressed by how much the actors fit into their roles, evoking their predecessors without descending into parody.
- How has no one mentioned the score yet? Especially in the opening sequence to title screen - the brass is fantastic. I think it's fit so well into the movie.
- I loved the absolutely cheeky send-up of Kirk's womanizing ways by putting him in bed with Uhuru's roommate and her kicking him out. It made a great contrast between previous Trek and this Trek.
- Apparently on Slashdot lots of people were wondering how the Grand Canyon appeared in Iowa. Answer - that wasn't the Grand Canyon. It's obviously a quarry from the blocky, square cuts into the stone sides. If they are building starships and whatnot in the middle of Iowa, they probably need buildings and factories and all kinds of things that would require stone, dirt and sand.
- "Emotionally compromised." The destruction of Vulcan has been discussed as being downplayed. I think the reaction in the film is muted precisely because it is Vulcan and the Vulcans rule ruthlessly over their emotions. Even Future!Spock shows minimal signs of it - no weeping or breaks in his voice. But in his performance, I think he shows incredible subtlety by conveying such heartbreak in such a controlled manner.
- I love Winona Ryder as Spock's mother, even though she has barely any screen time. I wish there could have been more of that.
- The brightness of the ship is nice. I like it, even if it does look like IKEA.
- This Kirk is one I find easier to relate to - not a golden boy but the smartest fuck-up in hicksville with a dead father and absent mother. I think that makes his crazy leaps and headstrong heroics all the more believable. Kirk has nothing to lose.
- Despite expository overload, Nero becomes more realistic to me at the end when his rage and irrational focus on Spock overwhelms him. Also, the Romulans look like tattooed Rusian thugs. WTF?
- McCoy's ranting about how diseased, dark and silent space is was spot on perfect.
- Regardless of the whacked out psuedo-science of it all, I still find the idea of a black hole eating the planet TERRIFYING.
The IMAX is down at the Bullock museum, and we lucked into great free parking. So we were driving home on MLK, headed towards Mopac. (Austin residents will note that west of Guadalupe on MLK there are a couple lights close together before the road turns downhill towards Lamar.) The light past Guadalupe was yellow and so we came to a dead stop just before it turned red. A black Volvo roared past us in the right lane after we stopped and ran a completely red light AND changed lanes without signaling. Mike exclaimed fail! But from our left, first at the light, a police car peeled out after them and zoomed up close behind.
We waited with breathless anticipation, but they went over the hilltop without any clue. We wondered if the police would pull over the jackass in the Volvo, because surely they would have to be blind to miss a guy running a light that was long red. We crested the hill. Just as the road curves past the KVUE studios, we saw the greatest, most awesome flashing red and blue lights. As we drove past, one officer had the driver's door open and a second was looking in the passenger side with a flashlight.
I shouted "YES!!" with as much glee as as a Kentucky Derby winner. How many times have I seen someone do something unbearably dangerous and stupid, and wished a police car was there to see it? Finally, finally - some jackass moron driver got what he deserved. I may have even cackled with glee.
Now - about Star Trek:
I've never been a big Star Trek fan - sure Spock is awesome, Picard had good lines, tribbles are cute, fandom, etc. But it never moved me much. I went to see this without expectation and came away mightily pleased overall. It's a brilliant, brilliant re-boot of the series that allows the writers such freedom to do new stories and yet it is in complete keeping with the universe already established. I was impressed by how much the actors fit into their roles, evoking their predecessors without descending into parody.
- How has no one mentioned the score yet? Especially in the opening sequence to title screen - the brass is fantastic. I think it's fit so well into the movie.
- I loved the absolutely cheeky send-up of Kirk's womanizing ways by putting him in bed with Uhuru's roommate and her kicking him out. It made a great contrast between previous Trek and this Trek.
- Apparently on Slashdot lots of people were wondering how the Grand Canyon appeared in Iowa. Answer - that wasn't the Grand Canyon. It's obviously a quarry from the blocky, square cuts into the stone sides. If they are building starships and whatnot in the middle of Iowa, they probably need buildings and factories and all kinds of things that would require stone, dirt and sand.
- "Emotionally compromised." The destruction of Vulcan has been discussed as being downplayed. I think the reaction in the film is muted precisely because it is Vulcan and the Vulcans rule ruthlessly over their emotions. Even Future!Spock shows minimal signs of it - no weeping or breaks in his voice. But in his performance, I think he shows incredible subtlety by conveying such heartbreak in such a controlled manner.
- I love Winona Ryder as Spock's mother, even though she has barely any screen time. I wish there could have been more of that.
- The brightness of the ship is nice. I like it, even if it does look like IKEA.
- This Kirk is one I find easier to relate to - not a golden boy but the smartest fuck-up in hicksville with a dead father and absent mother. I think that makes his crazy leaps and headstrong heroics all the more believable. Kirk has nothing to lose.
- Despite expository overload, Nero becomes more realistic to me at the end when his rage and irrational focus on Spock overwhelms him. Also, the Romulans look like tattooed Rusian thugs. WTF?
- McCoy's ranting about how diseased, dark and silent space is was spot on perfect.
- Regardless of the whacked out psuedo-science of it all, I still find the idea of a black hole eating the planet TERRIFYING.
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The black hole bit amused me... talk about overkill. Although it was nice to see a realistic visual approximation of one, even if the science was wonky.
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2) Why the heck did the Thurmians design the new Enterprise? Seriously, that thing with Scotty and the Water Pipes of Doom/Gigantic Blender of Equal Doom was straight out of Galaxy Quest.
3) Beastie Boys in a Star Trek movie o_O
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2) Mike was telling me that part of the engineering scenes were shot in a brewery. Which I can totally see, now that I look back.
3) I laughed so hard - I was wondering if that was the "classic" soundsystem/track that went with the car.