Star Trek Into Darkness

The long awaited and hotly discussed sequel to the 2009 franchise reboot. I should start off by saying that we all have to remember that the Star Trek universe as we know it has been retconned. Everything Kirk & the crew of the Enterprise did in the The Original Series and the 6 films is erased. The time paradox theme changed the course of things at least until the next retcon. I decided to keep this separate from the entire 2013 film list since Star Trek and I go back a long way. First and foremost I am a Kirk guy. With all due respect to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who's a great star ship Captain with a great crew. Picard is level headed, smart and quite dashing but Kirk is my guy. I also firmly believe that Spock blows away Riker as 1st Officer. Plus I never really got into the Star Trek: The Next Generation. Just to make sure it sinks in, the Star Trek universe has changed so try not to make comparisons like, "Kirk never did that against..." or "Nimoy never showed emotion the way Quinto does." It was tough for me not to make comparisons but I got over it and you have to judge the film by it's own merits.

In the opening scene the Enterprise and crew are saving a primitive civilization from a gruesome volcanic destruction. In doing so Kirk violates the Prime Directive, the most sacred commandment in Starfleet!, but gets away with a verbal chiding from Admiral Pike. On a side note because of the retcon Kirk has only had a few years of training. Whereas Shatner's Kirk had 14 years of training before getting a command. Spock kind of rats Kirk out and Kirk is bothered by it but Spock can't lie! What did he expect? There's also a lovers spat between Spock & Uhura that I thought was a bit much especially since they're relationship isn't really expanding on in this film but some of it was amusing.

Enter Benedict Cumberbatch, the shadowy villain who gets a Starfleet intelligence officer to blow-up an installation in London.  Let's cut to the chase, Cumberbatch is Khan Noonien Singh (but with a different accent from Ricardo Montalban's version, whatever). The genetically altered human from the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th Century. Khan is found floating in space (remember the "Space Seed" episode doesn't happen in the new Star Trek Universe) and is unfrozen by Admiral Marcus to have him develop new weapons of mass destruction (can you see where this is headed?) for the Federation despite the fact that he's from the 20th Century and everything is taking place in the 22nd century. I guess since Khan is from a war ravaged time, he must have some insight into some cool killing devices that the hippies of the 22nd century haven't thought of. Needless to say Khan is unhappy with situation Marcus has him in (Marcus holds the unfrozen bodies of his followers as hostages) and Khan plans to assassinate him. The attempt fails, Khan flees into Klingon territory and Kirk is dispatched by Marcus to kill Khan (be advised, Khan's identity hasn't been revealed at this point but unless you've been living in a cave for the months prior to the film's release, you had to know something was up) at any cost with 78 "special" photon torpedoes (ironically the same number as Khan's followers). Kirk and Spock argue about the morality of the orders...kill the alleged assassin and risk an interstellar war by violating the Klingon Neutral Zone instead of bringing him to justice (here's where the train I mentioned earlier is heading...a direct Bush/Cheney correlation. BOOM!).

During this time we also get to meet the lovely scientist and daughter to the war mongering Admiral Marcus, Dr. Carol Marcus...

Suffice to say she catches Kirk's eye almost immediately (not sure why she had to undress in one scene but who am I to counter such crucial plot lines) and she helps Kirk try to get her father to back off from destroying the Enterprise after Khan revealed the Admirals plan of provoking a war with the Klingons (more Bush/Cheney!).

So now Kirk has to enter into an unholy alliance with Khan in order to save the crew of the Enterprise (which his impulsiveness has led them into a trap by Admiral Marcus). Kirk by now understands that Khan will betray him and put him and the crew back in jeopardy once gets what he wants. Despite being "intellectually superior," Khan gets outsmarted by Spock (given but Spock gives props to Kirk for the plan). Skip a bit and Khan is defeated but not killed (sort of a permanent Guantanamo Bay theory) and it appears that a war with the Klingons has been avoided despite the fact that the Enterprise did commit an act of war by violating the Neutral Zone, firing upon Klingon warships and killing Klingon soldiers.

The movie itself is a fun ride. The CGI and special effects are pretty amazing and the story is good. It's not great (its got a lot of wholes but they're minor to me) but its good. Since there's a lot going on anyway, you almost don't mind or at least I didn't. Some of the main plot points of the film are borrowed heavily from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the original film, Spock saves the Enterprise from the destructive power of the Genesis Wave...

This time around, Abrams decides to switch Spock and Kirk. That's right, Abrams kills Kirk (same way too, shot by shot remake of the original scene). So you get Spock (showing emotion that he didn't show for his dead mother!) delivering this classic Shatner line....

But hold on! Kirk may be "dead" but as luck would have it, Bones with the aid of Dr. Marcus is able synthesize a cure for death from Khan's genetically altered blood (Bones is able to figure out that Khan's blood has curative powers when he injects it into a dead Tribble and brings it back to life). In order to get it, Uhura has to beam down to make sure a highly emotional and very violent Spock doesn't kill Khan with his bare hands (he wasn't this pissed when Nero destroyed Vuclan).

Abrams is trying to develop the Kirk/Spock relationship (more or less leaving Bones as the 3rd wheel). In the original series it was always Kirk, Spock & McCoy. The trio was already a tight group. Sure McCoy had his issues with Spock but they both respected each other and either one of them would sacrifice himself for the other. This is the main issue I have with the film, the chemistry between Kirk and Spock is uneven. Spock snitches out Kirk in the beginning and Kirk says, "never trust a Vulcan." Kirk has the knowledge of knowing what great pals he and Spock will become thanks to hanging out with Nimoy/Spock in the first film. Kirk is clearly trying to force it as if he's forgetting that Spock is Vulcan and just isn't into that kind of stuff. There's even a scene where Spock consults his future self for advice on what went down with Khan in the 1982 film (once again I'm not sold on the whole time paradox plot and I'm lukewarm at best with future Spock and current Spock living in the same time stream). How present day Spock even knew it would be a good idea to consult future Spock left me scratching my head but it's science fiction so I just keep those things to myself.

Kirk also seems to have a pretty unique relationship with Scotty as well. It's different from the original series since Kirk and Scotty met on the ice planet (leaving people to wonder why an engineering super-genius like Scotty is doing stranded on a distant Federation outpost) and became fast friends. I found it a bit weird that Kirk has a better relationship with Scotty than he does with Spock. Though to be fair, Scotty does quit (something James Doohan's character would never do. He respected Kirk and would lay his life down for him but he loved the Enterprise!) and it put Kirk in a tough spot (to say nothing of the joy that overcame Chekov when Kirk informed him that he'd be promoted to Chief Engineer and that he needed to get a "red shirt," the international sign of death in the Star Trek Universe) but he does come back after Kirk apologizes and say he was right.

Cumberbatch plays Khan much differently than Montalban (Montalban and Shatner never had a scene together). Montalban's Khan is more Shakespearean,

whereas Cumberbatch's version is more of a Batman villain as we get to see his superior physical strength when he dispatches a Klingon patrol with ease. Plus, Cumberbatch doesn't monologue the way Montalban did and is quicker to violence (though we never see it, it is referenced that Montalban "went mad" and slit the throats of the crew of Regula 1), as seen when he brutally murdered Adm. Marcus and coldly broke the leg of Carol in the process. All in all both actors did a great job on the character.

This was a solid film. It was full of action and a lot of fun. The story was good but not great and the dialogue was really good. I may even see it again. As always your comments are welcome. Thank you for your time.

A few words about the Brooklyn Nets

Over the weekend the plucky, Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls were able to defeat the Brooklyn Nets in game 7, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and a the honor of most likely getting brushed aside by the powerful Miami Heat.

During the regular season, the Nets in their first year in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, went 49-33, up from 22-44 during the last years strike shortened season and locked in the 4th seed for the playoffs. The Bulls (again without former league MVP Derrick Rose, look for more on him later) fought and clawed their way to a 45-37 record and  the 5th seed. The Nets were lead by a pair of max-contract stars in Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Without Rose the Bulls were led by Luol Deng (2013 salary $13.3 million) and Carlos Boozer ($15 million for 2013). The Nets have a team salary of $87.6 million and the Bulls have a team salary of $74.8 million. for the 2012-13 season. Both teams are over the salary cap and are paying luxury taxes.

The thing that I noticed the most watching this series (as a new Chicago resident I feel I must at least know what's going on sportswise) is that the Nets had the Bulls outgunned from the get go. After a decisive win in game 1, the Bulls won the next 3 including a thrilling 142-134 triple over time victory in game 4. After Williams had lit up the Bulls for 22 points and 7 assists, Kirk Hinrich (who's four years younger than Williams, makes 4 times less and is not as talented as Williams) locked Williams down defensively and held him to 8 points on 1-9 shooting and 10 assists. The Bulls let up 106 points in game 1 and really put the defensive clamps on the Nets in game 2 which led to a 90-82 win. It was more of the same for Williams in game 3, he was 5-14 from the field, finished with 18 points and 4 assists. Hinrich once again befuddled him defensively as the Bulls won 79-76.

In game 1 Joe Johnson was 7-13 from the field, 2-5 from 3 and finished with 16 points (a solid performance but nothing spectacular). When the Bulls amped up the D in games 2 & 3, Johnson shot terribly (game 2: 6-18 from the field and 3-7 from 3, game 3: 6-14 from the field and 1-4 from 3). To be fair Johnson was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis before the series but much to his credit he gave it a go and played with pain. The only issue I have with it was that the Bulls were depleted after game 4. Deng was out (Deng was so sick he had to have a spinal tap and practically had to be restrained from trying to make the team charter back to Brooklyn), Hinrich was out, Noah played the entire series on one leg essentially and Nate Robinson had the flu and was seen throwing up. Robinson & Noah still managed to elevate their games whereas Johnson did not (during the regular season Johnson shot 42.3% from th4 field, 37.5% from 3 to the tune of 16.3 ppg, his lowest output since the 2002-3 season, his first as a starter. In the playoffs he shot 41.7% from the field 25.6% from 3 and averaged 14.9 pppg. His stats got worse!). His injury does greatly affect his play but other guys were able to overcome their injuries.

In the epic game 4 triple overtime thriller, Williams scored 32 points (11-25 fg/5-11 3pt-fg) with 10 assists. Hinrich had 18 points (a much more efficient 7-12 from the field) and 14 assists. Williams was still outplayed by Hinrich and Joe Johnson finished with 22 points (9-20 fg) but seldom went to the line as he settled for jump shots all game. Nate Robinson had a huge game with 34 points (14-23 from the field). In game 5 with no Hinrich in his jock, Williams was able to get 23 points and 10 assists (Robinson couldn't guard Williams). Johnson in 39 minutes had 11 points in the 110-91 Nets win. In a closely contested game 6, the Nets prevailed 95-92 despite a underwhelming game from Johnson (17 points on 7-13 field goals, 1-3 3-pointers) and 17 points and 11 assists from Williams.

Which brings us to game 7. The Nets at home in front of a capacity crowd, the Bulls barely able to field a team and the momentum of having won the last 2 games of the series (in the NBA teams seldom come back from 3-1 down but if it was going to happen, this was the time).  The Bulls built a 17 point halftime lead and managed to hold off the Nets to win the series. The Bulls got huge games from Marco Belinelli (24 points) and Joakim Noah (24 points 14 rebounds). Johnson was all but useless with 6 points (2-14 field goals) but Williams arguably had his best game since game 1 with 24 points and 7 assists but it wasn't enough.

Watching the game it seemed that the Nets just didn't want it as much as the Bulls. The commentators said that more than once during the series. Granted, the Nets pushed the series to a seventh game did it really need to go that far? They didn't lay down and die after a dramatic game 4 (the Nets came back from a big deficit only to lose the lead and then overtime) so they deserve credit for that...I guess. Their play at times was uninspired. It was as if they were saying, "even if we win, we get Miami in the next round so who cares?" Their uninspired play begins with their high priced "superstars." Williams kind of wilted away when Hinrich put the clamps on him and even after Hinrich went out, Williams never really took over like great players do. Johnson was hurt but still logged a lot of minutes. The thing is Noah had Plantar Fasciitis as well but that didn't stop him.The Bulls played with more heart. The team lost Rose in the playoffs over a year ago and they've yet to lay down and die.

The Nets look like a team satisfied with mediocrity. Williams and Johnson didn't show me much. Williams poor attitude forced legendary Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan to call it quits 54 games into the 2010-11 season because he no longer wanted to deal with Williams, though Sloan never won a title (lost to Jordan's Bulls twice) he did coach 2 hall of famers in Karl Malone and John Stockton so he must've been doing something right (Williams was traded not soon after, so the Jazz just wanted to get rid of him). The Nets fired Avery Johnson 28 games into this season and as of Monday 6 May, PJ Carlesimo was relieved of his interim coaching duties. That's 4 coaches in the last 3 seasons if you're counting. 

It looks like the Nets are slowly becoming another Knicks. As in a team that's got talent but not really not that good, led by an overpriced "super star" and capable of lackluster play except without the ridiculousness of an owner like James Dolan (stay tuned for my opinions on Melo, I feel he's got it coming).

DJ B-Clear's May Movie Preview

May officially opens the Summer Blockbuster season and it opens with a BANG! to say the least. Let's jump in...

May 3rd

• Iron Man 3: There isn't much that needs to be said other than "see this film!" The trailers that I've seen make me want to see this film even more.
• The Iceman: Based on the life of Mafia hitman Richard Kuklinsk, a stone cold killer and family man. Directed by Ariel Vromen, the film boasts a very good cast that includes Michael Shannon in the lead, Winona Ryder as his wife, James Franco, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and David Schwimmer in supporting roles. The trailer looks gritty and in a fair world Shannon would be a perennial Oscar nominee. The down side is that Killing The Softly was supposed to be a really good film but people stayed away in droves. I'm not that familiar with Vromen's work but it might be worth taking a chance on this feature.
• What Maisie Knew: The 3rd "modern" re-telling of an 1897 Henry James novel. This version stars Julianne Moore as the pop singer mother and Steve Coogan as the English writer (or something) father who are divorced and vie for the affections of their young daughter, Onata Aprile. Throw in a new twist where Maisie enjoys hanging out with her mom's boy-toy (Alexander Skarsgård) and you've got a hybrid of Kramer v. Kramer and an episode of  Law & Order: Special Victims Unit which I didn't feel like finding the name of. Given it's probably gut-wrenching but the plot is definitely not original.
• Generation Um...: Keanu Reeves is a glum New Yorker who steals a video camera on whim and begins to tape the 2 twenty something babes (Adelaide Clemens - the blonde & Bojana Novakovic - the brunette, funny how that always seems to work out like that) who just happen to be very comfortable with their sexuality. Though I'm not sure why Neo is so glum, at least from the trailer, when he hangs around with 2 nubile hotties where it's pretty much implied that sex amongst the 3 is a given. The trailer gave me a Sex, Lies & Videotape kind of feel with a combination of 1997's Two Girls and a Guy (the hot blonde, hot brunette and the dude they're sleeping with unknowingly). I also got a feeling that Keanu is doing some soul searching which is why he steals the camera in the first place. I'm gonna pass on this.
• The Happy House: Directed by a guy I've never heard of (D.W. Young) with a resume of films I've neither heard of nor seen before comes a tale of some NYC hipsters who venture into the country and meet up with weird, quirky inhabitants of the B&B. One of whom may or may not be a serial killer. Honestly I thought the trailer was stupid.

May 1oth 

• The Great Gatsby: One of the few required reading books that I read in high school (and I hated reading) that I actually still refer to (sorry Le Morte D'Arthur) comes back to the big screen. Baz Luhrmann directs an all-star cast in this retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic work. The preview is fun to watch as Luhrmann put a lot of color into the sets so they seem to jump out at you. I will be seeing this film.
• Aftershock: Nicolás López directs a film about the breakdown of society after the 2010 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Eli Roth co-wrote and stars as an American in Chile looking to score chicks. The earthquake hits and everything turns into bloody chaos. The trailer gave me the impression that things go bad and get very gory so be advised. I'm sure there are people who would be interested in this sort of thing but I don't think it's for me.
• Erased: Philipp Stölzl directs Aaron Eckhart, Olga Kurylenko and others in the international conspiracy/spy thriller. It basically looks like The Bourne Films accept Eckhart is a little older and has a daughter in tow.
• Java Heat: A "seen it before" action film directed by Conor Allyn with Mickey Rourke as the villain. So it takes place in Indonesia, involves terrorist blowing stuff up, an American with enhanced martial arts skills and weapons knowledge and a kidnapped princess. At least there's a team of Muslim detectives who aren't bad guys which is refreshing. This kind of looks direct to DVD. At least Mickey Rourke is working.
• Peeples: Craig Robinson is marrying Kerry Washington and he heads out to the Hamptons to meet her parents,  David Alan Grier and S. Epatha Merkerson. Tyler Perry's latest release looks a lot like Meet the Parents. Everything Robinson does to ingratiate himself to Grier & Merkerson backfires in a big way.
• No One Lives: A relatively unknown cast in a horror film where a young couple stop in a small town in the middle of nowhere (when does anything good ever happen in this scenario?). There are taken captive by a group of townies, who rob and kill people kind of like 1997's Breakdown. The problem here is that the couple are not exactly the meek tourist type. The male of the couple survives and turns the table on his captors. It doesn't look like they stand a chance. It gets bloody.
• And Now A Word From Our Sponsor: Bruce Greenwood plays a marketing/advertising tycoon who disappears and when he shows back up he only talks in ad slogans. Former 90s indie film darling Parker Posey, plays the goody two-shoes who tries to find out what happened while the board of his company tries to have him declared incompetent so they can run the business. Looks suspiciously like a cross between Regarding Henry and Crazy People. It looks like a satirical look out how we Americans are driven by consumerism.

May 17th

• Star Trek: Into Darkness: Same as Iron Man 3, "see this film!" Kirk, Spock and the possibility of Khan. What else do you need?
• Frances Ha: Greta Gerwig stars in this Noah Baumbach directed film about a young Manhattanite who doesn't have any viable means of income but is a "free spirit" with friends who's archetype only seem to exist in films about New York City. The trailer is almost incomprehensible as Gerwig drops hipsterisms and gallivants through the city. According to the synopsis she's "following her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles." This is a film that I suspect New Yorkers would like but most people would have a hard time relating to. Baumbach has done some excellent work in the past but it's never really been mainstream by any stretch.
• The English Teacher: Julianne Moore stars as, you guessed it, an English teacher from a small town who helps an old student who's a playwright down on his luck. The help comes on the form of her getting his play produced, on this high school level, and of course sleeping with him. The school's administration is a little uptight about the play's subject matter but Nathan Lane is there to help her out. Of course when things get weird with her former student, his hunky, doctor father, played by Greg Kinnear, is there to make things more interesting. I think she also gets jealous when she catches her old student in the arms of a young co-ed. Based on the trailer this looks real predictable. I will pass on this title.
• Black Rock: A trio of hotties, led by Kate Bosworth, decide its a good idea to rekindle their friendship at a remote island Maine which just happened to be their childhood getaway. Naturally their not alone. Let me make one thing clear...Nothing good ever, I mean ever, happens when people aged 18-34 go into the woods. Death awaits those usually in the form of a large, indestructible man with sharp objects. Or in this case, 3 similarly aged dudes who hold a grudge or something and decide to make the ladies disappear. The point is, the woods are not safe.

May 24th

• Fast and the Furious 6: Yes, it's the 6th installment of the franchise. It's now almost annoying as the 37 Saw films. Enough already.
• The Hangover Part III: The "wolf pack" returns to Vegas (and apparently blow it up according to a trailer) to bring the franchise to an end in the place where it all began. The 2nd installment wasn't bad but it wasn't nearly as good as the first but I will take this one in as I'm curious to see how director Todd Phillips ends it.
• Before Midnight: Ethan Hawke and  Julie Delpy return in this 3rd installment of Richard Linklater's "Before" series. All 3 share a writing credit as Hawke & Delpy get together for the 3rd time in nearly 20 years. I suspect there will be more of the same from the 1st 2 films except everyone's older.
• Epic:Animated release from Twentieth Century Fox Animation featuring the voice talents of Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz and a few other A-Listers. It's about a teenage girl who gets shrunk down to insect size and meets up with the tiny people that defend the forest from evil. Admittedly the trailer looks pretty but but this is probably for the under 14 demographic. 

May 31st

• After Earth: Set in the future, Will Smith and his son go back to Earth, crash land and find the old big blue marble a dangerous place for humans. Apparently Smith is getting long in the tooth to save Earth so now he needs the assistance of his son. There's some cool stuff going on in the preview but I'm not sure if I'm ready to see Will Smith needing help saving Earth. The trailer doesn't fill you in on why Earth needed to be abandon (in Oblivion it was a war with aliens that left the planet uninhabitable despite victory) but it's science fiction I'm not that concerned. I will wait to see what kind of buzz this film generates before making a commitment.
• Now You See Me: Louis Leterrier directs a slid cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Caine in a heist film involving magic. Eisenberg, Harrelson & Fisher are magicians doing a show in Vegas but manage to rob a bank 5000 miles away during the show. Freeman narrates over parts of the trailer with a sense of they gang is planning something big. Leterrier's prior films have plenty of action but substance is sometimes lacking. To me this film is 50/50 in terms of being a good thriller/action film or just a subpar thriller/action film.
• Shadow Dancer: Set in 1990s Belfast, Clive Owen plays an MI5 operative who tries to get Andrea Riseborough (she's making the rounds in 2013!) to inform on her family, all members of the IRA, in order to avoid a 25 year jail sentence. Gillian Anderson makes an appearance as Owen's heartless, results driven boss. This looks real interesting. A very dark thriller directed by James Marsh.
• The East: Brit Marling is a private investigator who goes undercover to infiltrate an Eco-terrorist organization that's been wrecking havoc on corporate overlords. As she gets accepted by her new pals, she starts to fall for the hunky stud leader, Alexander Skarsgård and beings to think that maybe these guys aren't that evil. This looks kind of cool as I am a fan of films that look into the country's corporate conspiracies. A good cast that includes Ellen Page and Patricia Clarkson doesn't hurt either. Though the prospect of the of the cop falling for the quarry she's after is a bit predictable but it might be worth a look.