Best Picture Showcase, Part 1

Last Saturday, I attended Day 1 of the Best Picture Showcase at AMC. Every year, AMC puts on a Saturday (or, in the case of this year, two) where they play all of the nominees for that year's Best Picture Academy Award. This is one of my favorite events of the year. Today, just before the Oscars, will be Day 2. There are two days this year because there are 10 nominees - the first time since 1943. Below, you will find a mini-review and mini-synopsis (I'll try to keep the spoilers out of this one) of each movie played last Saturday, as well as a verdict on who I think should win the award so far.


Avatar

This is the big-ticket picture this year, the one most debated about, most praised, and most criticized. What is it? It's a sci-fi love story about a man who comes to another planet, one rich in mineral deposits and natural life, and uses an alien body (an avatar) that they had grown in test tubes to walk around amongst the Na'vi, the native peoples of that world. His mission is to make a bond with them, and then convince them to leave their home, so that us greedy humans can get the deposits of "unobtanium" underneath.

Now, I know I said no spoilers, but I have to admit, you've heard this story before. It's fairly predictable.I won't give it away, but you can guess, I'm sure. The amazing part of this film is the visual effects. The characters and scenery are almost all CG, and the 3D version is very well done. The 3D doesn't invade your world or throw things at the screen the way that most 3D movies do. This one just makes the world immersive and enhances the scenery.

My favorite part of this movie is Sigourney Weaver in her role as Grace, the hard-nosed, cigarette-smoking, sarcastic, compassionate head scientist of the film. She's full of so much character, and everything she does is very true-to-character. To me, she is the immersive part of the cast.


Up in the Air

Up in the Air is like a biopic of a fictional character, named Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a workaholic whose job it is to fire people for other companies by flying out to them. In fact, he travels so much that an airport is like home to him, and he has few personal connections to people and things besides that. His boss decides that it's time to switch over to the new, and implements a program where employees fire people via an internet video chat. Ryan tries to explain to them that this is impersonal and makes the transition harder on the now ex-employee. His boss gives him the chance to explain it more fully by letting him take a young hotshot, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), along with him on some of his firing trips.

This movie ends up somehow being both funny and depressing. George Clooney is stellar, as are the two female leads (Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga - who are both nominated for best supporting actress). The most interesting bit of trivia that I learned about this film is that all of the people that Ryan fires are actually people who had been recently laid off in real life. These people were simply told to react in the way that they had wanted to react to whoever fired them. This made for such a genuine bisection of today's working atmosphere. I was shocked, and newly grateful to be employed.


Precious

I know I just said that I was shocked by the unemployed in Up in the Air, but Precious was a whole different kind of shock. It seemed to me that everyone in the theater was struck dumb after this film. This is the story of a young woman who is struggling in school and pregnant with her second child by her father. Go ahead and read that again. It's not a pretty sentence. Her mother throws things at her and abuses her because she is jealous that her boyfriend is more interested in her daughter than he is in her. This is the story of how she comes out of that situation.

I talked with several people in depth after the film. Precious is not a happy movie, and it isn't fun to watch, but I think that it is important. At first, I thought that I didn't enjoy the movie. The truth is that it wasn't fun, it wasn't feel-good, and the ending is both happy and sad, so no purely happy ending. But, by God, is this film important and amazing. You feel it. This is possibly one of the greatest movies I have ever seen: a true eye-opener. I hope to write more in-depth about it in a separate post.


The Blind Side

I have absolutely no idea why this movie is nominated for Best Picture. None at all. It's a mediocre, boring feel-good movie about a white woman and her family who take in a poor, young, black man and help him to succeed. In football. Whoop-de-freaking-do. My friend Michael commented that this movie might have worked if it had been placed in the '60s. I agree. But, nope, it's placed firmly in the landscape of today, where it simply seems racist. How kind of the white folks to help out the black folks. You can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes.

Hopefully more on this one later too. As you can see, I haven't finished my rant yet.


Inglorious Basterds

Nope, not spelled wrong. This is a film about a fictional group of radical American Nazi-killers during WWII. Or it's a film about a young Jewish woman who got away from an insane Nazi colonel (played by the amazing Christoph Waltz [nominated for best supporting actor]), and is now seeking revenge. Take your pick. It's both. This film is marvelous, and was a breath of fresh air after The Blind Side. It was funny, and mildly violent (it is Quentin Tarantino, after all), and Brad Pitt as the head Basterd was amazing. What a character! I truly think he was snubbed by not getting an Oscar nom.

But why did I think this movie was not quite right? There wasn't enough Nazi-killing! All of the trailers lead the viewer to believe that this is a film about a fictional group of radical American Nazi-killers. More than half the movie is focused on this young Jewish woman, and it totally screws up the flow of the film.


The Verdict

No, there wasn't a sixth film called "The Verdict." Here's what I think so far, and I'm off to see the rest of the nominations today, so I'll let you know. So far, I think Avatar will win, I think Precious deserves to win, and I think I liked Up in the Air the best. I also am rooting for Christoph Waltz to win best supporting actor for Inglorious Basterds, and Mo'nique (yes, believe it or not) to win best supporting actress for Precious.

See you soon with more exciting news on this year's Best Picture nominees.

Star Trek - "Once You Have Eliminated the Impossible..."

At last. Today's film is Star Trek. It was released in 2009, is still in theaters (I checked!), and thus this review will contain neither plot summary nor spoilers. This review was also written directly after seeing the film, so it was fresh in my mind. It was directed by J.J. Abrams, and starred Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (McCoy), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), John Cho (Sulu), and Simon Pegg (Scotty). It also starred Eric Bana as Nero, and Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike. A guest cameo (and a rather lengthy one) is Leonard Nimoy, although I won't tell you who he plays, as that falls under the category of "spoiler."

Star Trek fans: be not afraid. In no way does this film malign or disrupt the rest of the Star Trek universe. They come up with a quite creative (but very Star-Trek-y) way to deal with that, and I approved highly.

There are references. The famous lines are said - for example, "Live long and prosper" and "I'm givin' 'er all she's got, Captain!" - but there is not a hit of cheesiness about it. Each of the old lines are inserted with a touch of class. They are there because they work in the moment, not because they want (solely, at least) to get a fan reaction - and most of those lines are given new meaning in their new context.

The computer graphics are extraordinary. I have seen good CG before, but I tend to find space battles slightly dull - not my favorite part of any sci-fi (as you could see in my review of Nemesis). This was filmed (animated?) in such a way that I pretty much always knew what was going on, but it was also quite chaotic - much more realistic of a space battle in my opinion. I have a feeling that this is the kind of battle-work that all of the Next Generation movies tried to do, and, yet, fell short. Also - and I'm not a ship girl - the shots of the Enterprise herself were quite lovely. I, in fact, leaned over to my friend, Jessica, in the theater and whispered, "Glorious!" at one particular shot of the Enterprise.

The actors did an excellent job of portraying their characters. They did extremely well at not only calling back to the classic actors (they clearly did due diligence and watch the original series and the movies) and made the characters their own. A special mention goes to Quinto, who slid gently into the role of Spock with no bumps or bruises - it felt like he put on an old glove. The true star of the show (although certainly not the main character) was Urban as Bones. He got the inflections, the lines, the cranky affection for his friends, and even the slight quirk of the mouth that Kelley always had. Amazing. Cho, who played Sulu, also stood out - but not in a good way. Sulu did not have but one moment. Cho neither made you believe he was a younger George Takei nor that he was a younger Sulu. I look forward to seeing the character and actor progress if they make other movies - and I hope they do.

If this is the direction that Star Trek will take in the future, I am pleased and proud. I can only hope that they can - and will! - keep up this level of excellence. I am mildly uncomfortable saying this, but I believe this to be the best Star Trek film yet. It's masterfully crafted, cultivates more emotions than just nostalgia (I laughed out loud several times, was actually afraid for the characters, and nearly cried two or three times), is a great action flick, and good fun. I actually had to remind myself to breathe after the first scene - utterly amazing - of the movie. Indeed, The Wrath of Khan has the action and passion, The Voyage Home has the joy, and Star Trek has it all. Go see it.

Star Trek: Nemesis - "Do You Think This is a Wise Course of Action, Sir?"

The final film before the newest is Star Trek: Nemesis. It stars the same cast and crew with the addition of Tom Hardy, and is directed by Stuart Baird (who only directed two other films besides Nemesis, and is primarily a film editor by trade).

Nemesis begins with the Earth wedding of Troi and Riker. En route to the ceremony on Betazed, the Enterprise picks up signals of a positronic nature on a desert planet, and goes to investigate. Once there, they discover pieces of a prototype android, clearly made by Dr. Noonien Soong, and aptly named B-4 (Brent Spiner). They assemble B-4, a child-like version of Data, and, though his programming would allow him to evolve like Data, a complete memory transfer from Data sparks seemingly no effect.

Back en route to Betazed, Picard receives a transmission from Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) at Starfleet Headquarters ordering them to Romulus, where there has been a coup d'etat. A new person from Remus (Romulus' sister-world) has take power - Praetor Shinzon (Hardy).

The Enterprise goes to Romulus, and the crew discovers that Shinzon is not only human, but actually a clone of Picard. Shinzon was the product of an abandoned project to replace Picard. Shinzon tells Picard that he is only interested in peace, but Picard and his crew soon discover that Shinzon is harboring a planet-killing weapon. With this weapon, he plans to destroy Earth and cripple the Federation. To accomplish this, Shinzon had previously found and reprogrammed B-4, who transmits the information on ship placement within the Federation to Shinzon's ship.

After this discovery, the Enterprise takes off to find the bulk of the fleet, placed close to the neutral zone. Shinzon's ship fires and disables the Enterprise in the midst of a nebula, which hinders communication with Starfleet. A battle ensues, in which two Romulan war birds assist the Enterprise, but ultimately get disabled. Also, Troi uses her telepathic abillities to locate Shinzon's cloaked ship, and fires a blow that cripples his ship, and destroys the cloak.

Frustrated, Shinzon loses his temper, and decides to unleash the planet-killing weapon, which takes 10 minutes to deploy, on the Enterprise. Picard beams over in an apparent suicide mission to stop the weapon. He grapples with Shinzon, eventually killing him, partially by accident. While he stares at Shinzon in shock, Data beams over, quickly uses a prototype self-transporter on Picard (who beams back to the Enterprise), and destroys the weapon, the ship, and himself in one blow.

The Enterprise crew is stunned at the death of Data, and raise a glass to him in Picard's quarters. Back at spacedock where the Enterprise is being repaired, Picard bids goodbye to Riker, who is headed to his own command on the Titan. Picard also has a long conversation with B-4 about Data, which B-4 seems to not understand. As Picard walks away sadly, B-4 starts absentmindedly singing "Blue Skies," the song that Data had sung for the wedding. Picard smiles at this hopeful sign, and the movie ends.

There are several action scenes in this movie that Baird talks excitedly about in the behind-the-scenes and I find quite dull. One such example is the Argo, an off-roading vehicle and a complete copy of the Warthog from the video game Halo. Picard goes all gung-ho driving it, while they pick up pieces of B-4, and then driving it as they are chased by Tuskan raiders and Jawas that come out of nowhere. Wrong movie, you say? If they weren't Tuskan raiders and Jawas, they were awful copies.

I also had mixed feelings about seeing Admiral Janeway giving orders to Captain Picard. While she definitely deserved a promotion after all that Voyager went through, it's quite odd to see her an admiral while Picard is only a captain. I guess he took Kirk's advice from Generations, and never let go of that captain's chair.

I also felt very uncomfortable with the rape scene. There is a scene where Shinzon invades Troi's mind with the help of his Reman Viceroy while she and Riker are making love, and makes her see him in Riker's place. It's extremely disturbing, and, while this kind of thing does happen in Star Trek, it's rare, and I happily skipped past it during this viewing. It does allow Troi a good moment later in the film, however, when she invades the Viceroy's mind in order to get a fix on their cloaked ship's location. As she enters his mind, she says, "Remember me?" in an extraordinarily deadly tone - quite unique for her character, and appropriate for the scene.

Nemesis frustrates me. It is an excellent cast, the last in a series, and almost the same production team as the others. What this movie is missing is what is intricate to Star Trek in general, and Next Generation especially: human interaction. So much of this movie is merely pointless action scene after pointless action scene. The behind-the-scenes interviews confused me a great deal, since all of the cast and crew (with the notable exception of Baird, the director) talking about how this movie is about family - staying family while still moving on. Then I saw the deleted scenes. They were beautifully acted, completely heartfelt scenes between people about their relationships and themselves - much more in line with TNG and the interviews. I could not be more upset that those were the scenes that were cut. Those were the scenes that were missing, and I'm convinced that that was what made this movie a box office and critical failure.

One example of such scenes that made me actually cry was Worf and Geordi cleaning out Data's quarters after his death. There are objects that they see that are vital to Data's development - his violin, his book of Sherlock Holmes, his paintings. And Spot. Spot meows and leaps into Worf's arms. Almost unable to hold back tears, Worf looks at Geordi and says, "I am not a cat person." Geordi smiles back, places a hand warmly on Worf's shoulder and says, "You are now..."

If you have the opportunity, and want to watch this movie, watch the deleted scenes as well. Those at least will make you feel like you are coming home, not being hung out to dry.

Star Trek: Insurrection - "Taking the Captain's Yacht Out for a Spin?"

The next-to-last in our lineup of pre-existing Star Trek films is up now:  Star Trek: Insurrection.  This movie was released in 1998, and was directed by Jonathan Frakes (after, of course, he directed ST: First Contact).  It stars the same Next Generation crew, with the notable additions of F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe.

The Enterprise crew discovers that the Federation is working in tandem with a race called the Son'a - a pleasure-loving race obsessed with youth - to attempt to harvest metaphasic radiation particles from the rings around a planet in the Briar Patch, a section of space difficult to navigate and impossible to communicate through.  These particles have youth-giving properties.  They basically stop the aging process, and revert those who are older to become young again, both emotionally and physically.  This, of course, would be an amazing resource for the Federation, as well as for the selfish Son'a, since the Federation could use it to cure diseases and afflictions, such as blindness.

The problem?  The planet is already inhabited by a technologically advanced, but simplistic people called the Ba'ku.  They prefer to live without the benefits and hazards of technology, and to live in the moment.  Although only a population of 600 or so, Picard and his crew still believe that it is wrong to take their resource away from them.  Not only were the Federation and the Son'a going to steal the particles, they were also going to relocate the Ba'ku onto a holographic ship.  The ship would have the same visual environmental setup as the planet.  In effect, it would seem to the Ba'ku that they had never been moved, except when they would start aging again.  This is something that the Enterprise crew can't abide, even though they have experienced some of the benefits - Riker and Troi have stuck up their long-languishing romance, Worf is suffering symptoms of jak'talah (Klingon puberty), and, most heartbreakingly, Geordi is no longer blind.  Despite that, Geordi and Riker take the Enterprise back to the edge of the Briar Patch, in an attempt to persuade the Federation Council that this is wrong.  Picard, Crusher, Worf, Troi, and Data beam down to the surface to help the Ba'ku keep from being transported onto the holoship, and off of their planet.

Picard, having struck up a friendship and budding romance with one of the heads of the Ba'ku, Anij (Murphy), easily persuades the Ba'ku to trust them.  Encouraging them to take only essential belongings, they hurry the Ba'ku into the mountains, towards caves where they can find shelter.  Meanwhile, the leader of the Son'a, Ru'afo (Abraham), working with Admiral Dougherty (Zerbe), send ships to intercept (and if necessary, destroy) the Enterprise, and also sends scout ships down to the surface equipped with drones carrying isolinear tags.  Those tags, if shot into the Ba'ku, would allow them to be transported individually onto the Son'a ship.  Picard and the others get most of the Ba'ku to safety, but Picard and Anij, along with perhaps fifty or a hundred others get transported to the Son'a ship.

On the Son'a ship, Ru'afo and Dougherty go to talk to Picard and the Ba'ku.  We discover that the Son'a are actually the same race as the Ba'ku - they had been young people who left the planet, embracing technology, but growing old.  They came to resent the Ba'ku for "hoarding" the fountain of youth, even though the Ba'ku never asked the Son'a to leave in the first place.  Dougherty, upon realizing that, and seeing Picard's utter devotion to the Ba'ku, realizes that the Federation has chosen the wrong path.  He confronts Ru'afo away from the prisoners, and Ru'afo kills him in an entirely gruesome manner.  Ru'afo then orders his people to deploy the collector for the particles.  This would destroy life in the sector, but Ru'afo no longer cares about relocating the Ba'ku, as that had been a Federation condition from the beginning.

Picard is then separated from the Ba'ku, so that he can be murdered to stop him from revealing to the Federation what was happening.  Ru'afo's second-in-command, Gallatin (played by Greg Henry), escorts Picard to a section of the ship that would not be protected from the metaphasic radiation.  En route, Picard persuades Gallatin that the Son'a should not be killing their own families and friends, and that Gallatin must oppose Ru'afo.  Gallatin reluctantly agrees, and helps Picard communicate with his people on the surface.  They transport the Son'a to the holoship, now made to look like the Son'a command ship - thus making it so that the Son'a are unable to control the collector.  Ru'afo quickly determines the situation, and transports himself off of the holoship and onto the collector, in an attempt to restart it manually. 

Picard also beams over to the collector, to stop him, and destroys the collector from the inside.  Picard believes that he is to die, since the Son'a beamed back to their real command ship, and had taken Gallatin and Worf hostage.  However, the Enterprise, back safely from a successful conversation with the Federation Council, swoops across the exploding collector, and beams Picard out  to safety.  Ru'afo, of course, is killed, exploding along with the collector.  Before rescuing Picard, the Enterprise also attacks the Son'a command ship, dealing it a lethal blow.  Worf and the Son'a are also beamed back to the Enterprise.

The away team still on the surface escorts the Ba'ku back to their village, and re-unites Gallatin with his mother, starting the healing process between the Ba'ku and Son'a.  Picard and Anij promise to see each other again.  Yet again, the Enterprise flies off for more missions and adventures.

This movie is definitely more light-hearted than the other two Next Generation films, but still adds in the moral element inherent in Star Trek, and also has a few fairly creepy bits.  I think it's awfully well put-together, but I believe that First Contact was superior.  With that, here are a few notes.

I think the costume work for this film is very good.  I love the new dress uniforms - ivory with blue accents, as opposed to the longer skirt-shirts from the series.  They look much more professional, much more uniform, and less cringe-inducing.  I also like the civilian clothes that the Enterprise crew wears when they are going onto the surface.  They are casual, but still ver chic, and each fits their character very well.

I have also come to appreciate the music more in the last few films, after watching a behind-the-scenes featurette on Jerry Goldsmith, a legendary composer who did the Star Trek films as well as films too numerous to count.  The opening music which plans over the pastoral scenes of the Ba'ku life is gentle and serene.  It's soothing, and fits the visuals perfectly.  Also, I love how, when they re-introduce Worf, a slow, quiet Klingon theme plays.  Fantastic.  Although not by Jerry Goldsmith, I also enjoy the scene with the music from H.M.S. Pinafore, which Picard and Worf sing to try to reach a malfunctioning Data.  The three of them have excellent voices, and it's fun to hear Gilbert and Sullivan in a context where you usually wouldn't.

When Geordi recovers his eyesight, it is one of the saddest and sweetest things.  He stands on a hill with strikingly brown eyes, filled with tears that don't fall.  He watches the sun rise and comments to Picard who comes upon him, "You know I've never seen a sunrise?"  It speaks to his character how, even given that gift, he does not want to take the Ba'ku away from their home.

Stepping away from gushing for a moment, I wanted to highlight things that I do not approve of.  When Worf suffers from symptoms of puberty, he is made the butt of jokes, and generally looks ridiculous.  Since Worf is generally a serious character, and one of my favorites, I dislike this comic use of him.  The character of Worf is complex and interesting enough that he doesn't need to be relegated to the role of comic relief.  In addition, I dislike the "perfect moment" segments, where the Ba'ku have so learned to appreciate time that they are able to slow down time, and make a moment into a universe.  It was campy and weird.  I like my Star Trek to make some sort of pseudo-scientific sense, and this just seems quite odd to me.  Finally, I am kind of embarrassed that Riker pulled out a joystick - a joystick - to pilot the Enterprise manually.  Talk about unrealistic!  Seems very ego-centric as well.

All in all, good movie.  You really do feel the camaraderie between the cast members, and the guest stars are excellent and match the regulars pace for pace.  The music is amazing, and the story is cool.  It's just not quite as good as First Contact.  What do you think?

Star Trek: First Contact - "They've Adapted!"

Today's film is Star Trek: First Contact. It was released in 1996, and was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who had previously directed several episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager, but never before this a feature film. The movie stars the same crew as before, with the excellent additions of Alice Krige, James Cromwell, and Alfre Woodard.

The movie begins when Picard receives word of the Borg in the Terran system - home to Earth and Starfleet Headquarters - and also the newly-made Enterprise E is to stay in the Neutral Zone during the battle. When Picard protests, the admiral issuing orders informs him that while they have the utmost confidence in the Enterprise and her crew, they didn't think it wise to bring Picard - who had previously been assimilated as a human/Borg hybrid "ambassador" and escaped - into a situation where he would encounter the Borg again. Shortly after the battle begins, Picard disobeys orders. In the nick of time, the Enterprise saves the heavily damaged fleet, including the Defiant, a rather familiar ship commanded by Worf. The Enterprise takes on the crew of the Defiant and takes command of the fleet. Picard orders all ships to fire at what appears to be a non-essential part of the Borg cube, but succeeds in destroying the cube.

A life-pod escapes from the cube, and opens up a temporal rift. The Enterprise gets caught in the temporal wake, and sees the world change around them; they see Earth entirely assimilated and the Borg living on it. Determined to stop this potential future, the Enterprise follows the Borg sphere in.

They find themselves in the 21st century, one day before the first warp-capable ship (the Phoenix) was to fly. The Borg try to annihilate that ship and her captain, but the Enterprise destroys the sphere before they are able to do so. In an effort to ensure the safety of the Phoenix and her captain, an away team beams down. After they locate the Phoenix, and begin minor repairs, Troi finds Zephram Cochran (Cromwell) - the man who is to make the first warp flight - drunk in a bar. She and Riker tell him the truth: they are from the future, and he has to make the flight to usher in a new era for humanity (since this flight would attract the attention of the Vulcans, and be the catalyst for the Federation). He agrees to make the flight, but is creeped out by the hero he is to become.

Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, they discover that the Borg had gotten onto their ship before they blew up the sphere. The Borg commandeer Engineering, lock out the controls from the bridge, and start assimilation of both ship and crew. Picard forms several teams to investigate the situation with the Borg and confront them, as necessary. While patrolling, Data gets captured by the Borg, and Picard gets separated from his team.

Picard, while attempting to outrun the Borg and get back to the bridge, runs into a 21st century woman, Lily (Woodard), who had been brought on board for medical treatment. Picard explains the situation to her and, after some initial conflict and disbelief, the two work their way back to the bridge.

Data, meanwhile, is reactivated strapped firmly to a table. He meets the Borg Queen (Krige), an entity that is the one mind of the Borg, like the queen in a hive of bees. "I am the Borg," she introduces herself. She reactivates Data's emotion chip, and attempts to seduce him by hooking up human skin to his mechanical frame and allowing him to feel the sensations that follow.

After a few more battles with the Borg, the remaining bridge crew advises Picard to set the ship to self-destruct. He vehemently disagrees and orders them to go on fighting. In fact, he loses his temper enough to call Worf a coward. Lily follows Picard into his ready room. The two joust verbally. Finally, Picard realizes that it is a misbegotten sense of revenge that is driving him to keep fighting to the point of suicide rather than destroying the ship, and the Borg with it (giving the Borg the Enterprise as well, as he saw it). Because of Lily, he sets the self-destruct, and evacuates the ship.

Picard stays on board in an effort to save Data. He enters Engineering and encounters the Borg Queen. He offers to willingly take his place by her side as Locutus - sacrificing himself - if she lets Data go. She seemingly accepts his offer, has drones hold him in place, and then calls to Data. Data responds that he does not wish to leave. Data then unlocks the ship's computer for the Queen, and fires torpedoes at the just-emerged Phoenix.

And misses.

Data then breaks open a coolant tank, which releases toxic gas that destroys organic material. Picard deftly maneuvers out of the reach of the gas with quick climbing, while the Queen and her drones die in gruesome agony. Picard stops the self-destruct sequence, and the Phoenix successfully goes to warp. The Vulcans see the warp signature and come down to Earth. The rest, as they say, is history (future?), and the Enterprise goes home.

This was critically considered the best of the Next Generation movies. I haven't re-watched them all yet, but it is certainly excellent. It is definitely more action-oriented than Generations, and also manages to carry with it the character development from TNG.

One of the coolest carry-overs from the series is, of course, the Borg. The Borg are simply terrifying. It's both freaky and cool that you can walk among the Borg until they consider you a threat, for example. Before then, you are no more than a bird on a branch to them, and they don't even look at you. The incorporation of Lily into this environment was especially effective. She reacts by screaming, clutching at Picard's arm, and visibly shaking until they get to relative safety. Lily brings the viewer straight into what it must be like to be in a Borg environment. The TNG crew are so used to it, the viewer can become nonchalant about the Borg. Not so when Lily is reacting the way we would to the same situation.

The interaction between Data and the Borg Queen, however, really bothers me. The character of the Queen is well-played, and quite an interesting concept, but I don't see Data being seduced the way he was, or at least the way he seemed to be. Of course, he only considered the Queen's offer to stay and rule with her for .68 seconds, but, as he said, that is an eternity for an android. I guess that Data is more human-like than even I want him to be.

I believe we see Picard at his best and worst in this movie. He is brave and self-sacrificing, but also petty and vengeful. He calls Worf a coward merely to rile him up - which it does. Worf retorts,"If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand." When he argues with Lily about the ship, I actually get frightened of his ferocity and single-mindedness. But then he goes back to the Picard we know and love, quoting Moby Dick, and finding that he is no different than Captain Ahab in that moment. Absolutely superb acting, although I have always been quite partial to Patrick Stewart.

A side-note issue is when Picard is explaining the 24th century to Lily, he says that, "Money doesn't exist in the 24th century." This is clearly not the case, as in other TNG movies and clearly in Deep Space Nine, gold-pressed latinum is the currency of the day. What that should have said in my opinion, was that money is not at play within the Federation. Then again, I suppose it is easier to explain the first way.

Deanna is incredible when she's drunk, and I believe it is her best acting yet. She also seemed like she was having fun, which was a first.

This film is certainly worth a watching. It has two simultaneous "A" plots, action, terror, and even a few laughs. Totally worthy of being a descendant of the TNG series.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Star Trek: Generations - I Just LOVE Scanning for Life Forms!

My next film is Star Trek: Generations.  This is the movie that hands over the mantle of Star Trek from the original cast to the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, who had completed seven seasons on television before making this film.  This movie was released in 1994, and was directed by David Carson, who, other than this film, has only directed in television, including a few Star Trek: TNG and DS9 episodes.  Generations features the talents of William Shatner as Kirk, James Doohan as Scotty, and Walter Koenig as Chekov.  It stars the ensemble cast from Star Trek: TNG - Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker),  Brent Spiner (Data), LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge), Michael Dorn (Worf), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi).  This film also includes Whoopi Goldberg in her reoccurring role as Guinan, and introduces Malcolm McDowell into the Star Trek universe.

Generations begins with the christening of the Enterprise B.  On board in a merely honorary capacity are Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov.  On it's first run around the galaxy, the ship, swarming with reporters and new officers, gets a distress call and is the only one in range.  Since the ship is missing a great deal of staff, systems, and supplies, Captain Harriman (played by Alan Ruck) relinquishes command to the more experienced Kirk.  Kirk immediately sets a plan in action to rescue the distressed ships from the energy ribbon tearing them apart.  Unfortunately, they are only able to transport 47 of the over 300 people on board the ships.  

In order to attempt to break the Enterprise itself free from the energy ribbon, Kirk goes down to a lower level of the ship to re-program the deflector dish.  Although the successful reprogramming allows the Enterprise to escape, a stray tendril from the ribbon strikes the ship, causing a hull breach in the section where Kirk is.  By the time Scotty, Harriman, and Chekov get down there, Kirk is simply gone.  Only a star field beyond ragged edges of metal remains.

Seventy-eight years later, the Enterprise D receives a distress call from a Federation space station being attacked by Romulans.  By the time they arrive, the Romulans have left, leaving what amounts to a completely dead crew with the notable exception of Dr. Soran (McDowell).  After a short time on the Enterprise, Soran beams back to the station and shoots a photon torpedo into the sun, making it explode.  With the help of a nearby Klingon ship, Soran beams off of the station before the shock wave destroys the station.  The Enterprise barely escapes in time.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise crew discovers that the Romulans were trying to regain their stolen trilithium - a highly explosive experimental energy source.  The trilithium had been stolen not by the Federation, but by Dr. Soran as payment to the Duras sisters - Klingons who helped him to get from the station to his final destination.  They also discover that Dr. Soran had been one of the people rescued from the energy ribbon 78 years before, and that Guinan had been too.  Picard and Guinan have a discussion, and she explains that the ribbon is not just a random phenomenon in space, but rather a different plane of existence.  On that plane - the Nexus - each individual lives any and all of their dreams, since time has no meaning.  "It's like being inside joy," she describes.  Guinan also goes on to inform him that Soran is probably obsessed with getting back to it.

Picard and Data take this information and determine that Soran destroyed the sun near the station in order to change the gravitational pulls in the sector, and move the ribbon.  They also determine that if he were to destroy the sun in the Veridian system, he would move the ribbon to intersect with Veridian 3, so that he could get back into it.  Unfortunately, that would kill several million pre-industrial people on Veridian 4.  Determined to stop such a tragedy, the Enterprise travels to that system.

Picard beams down to Veridian 3 to try to persuade Soran not to destroy the sun.  In the meantime, the Enterprise gets into a fire-fight with the Klingon ship, in which the Enterprise is heavily damaged before destroying the Klingon ship.  They are forced by a warp core breach to separate the sections of the ship, and the saucer crash-lands on Veridian 3.  Picard is unsuccessful with his persuasion, and he and Soran end up in the Nexus while all that surrounds them is destroyed by the exploding sun.

In the Nexus, after encountering his heart's desire, Picard realizes that he must do something to change what has happened.  An echo of Guinan tells him that time has no meaning here, so he can go anywhere and any time he pleases.  He decides that he cannot do it alone, and goes to find Kirk, who is in the Nexus, and not dead after all.  After Kirk comes to the same conclusion as Picard - that this is not real and that there is still some good to do in the universe - he agrees to go back with him.  They leave the Nexus together, and fight Soran for control of the missile he wants to fire into the sun.  They lock the missile in place, killing Soran and stopping his nefarious plan, but killing Kirk as well.  Picard buries Kirk, and then meets up with the rest of the crew as they are evacuated from the wreckage of the Enterprise.  He muses with Riker that he doubts that this will be the last ship to bear the name Enterprise.

The plot of this film is very rich.  It took me a while to write the summary, as I realized I had to leave out several B-plots that were not part of the main story: (1) the interactions with the Duras sisters - well known to many of us from their existence in the television series, (2) Data installing his emotion chip and what follows, and (3) Picard losing his only remaining family - his brother and young nephew - in a fire at their winery.  Each subtext is so rich that it could be an episode in and of itself.  I think that this is an advantage that this film has over its predecessors.  A great deal of the scenes with the most joy and the most sorrow come from these subplots.  I will forever love Data's reaction to a disgusting new drink he is served by Guinan.  Delighted by the fact that it produces an emotional response - hate - when he drinks it, when Guinan asks, "More?", Data replies with great relish, "Please!"  The scene where Picard talks to Troi about the death of his family rips at my heart.  I can never stand to see him hurting in any way.

This leads me to my next point.  This crew and their sorrows and joys affect me so much more.  I discovered the original crew as an adult.  This crew was like family from my childhood, since I started watching TNG at a very young age.  I can't honestly say whether this batch of actors is more skilled, or if I'm just horribly biased.

I have always found it amusing that Alan Ruck plays Captain Harriman.  For those of you who don't recognize his name, he played Cameron in Ferris Beuller's Day Off - another staple of my adolescence.  I like to pretend that Cameron, after getting the worst of everything in high school, grew up and became a starship captain.  I know, it doesn't even make sense in the timeline, but I like the idea of him getting his own.

On a sour note, they used way too much slow-motion in this film.  They seemed to feel the need to slo-mo almost every action moment.  Maybe it was a hallmark of the time the movie was made.  I'm not sure.  I haven't focused much interest on films made in the 90s.  

Finally, a great joy for me in this film was Spot, Data's cat.  When Data finds Spot trapped in a barrel in the wreckage of the Enterprise at the end, it is very moving.  Troi says, appropriately, "Another family reunited."

I think this film may be tempered with nostalgia for me, but it's a very good movie, and a fun ride.

Logic is the Beginning of Wisdom - Star Trek VI

I've seen the new Star Trek film.  A review will be up after we finish the rest of the Star Trek movies.  The short version?  Go see it.  I loved it.

So let's get going on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.  It was released in 1991, and I actually saw it in theaters when it was released and had seen no other Star Trek movie besides Star Trek IV.  I was quite confused.  For the last time as a complete ensemble, it starred the same cast, with Kim Cattrall and the masterful addition of Christopher Plummer.

The story opens with an explosion, as most interesting action movies do.  A very important Klingon moon with their most important energy production facility is destroyed due to factors unknown, and the previously reclusive and violent people reach out to the Federation for assistance.  The Enterprise crew - three months from retirement - is given the simple-on-the-surface task of escorting the Klingon chancellor (played by David Warner) and his party to the peace conference.  Kirk expresses great dismay, anger, and prejudice at this - he has still not forgiven them for the death of his son (in Star Trek III).  He has no choice in the matter, however, and so carries on with the mission.  On this, their potentially last mission, Spock brings his protege - Lt. Valeris (Cattral).

During the trip, after a spectacularly failed diplomatic dinner between the Klingon and Federation officers, strange things happen.  Without the knowledge of the crew, the Enterprise shoots two photon torpedoes at the Klingon Bird of Prey, crippling it, and disabling the artificial gravity on board.  Then, two people in Federation space suits with magnetic boots beam over to the Klingon ship, and massacre much of the helpless crew, including the visionary chancellor.

Wracked with guilt for hating the Klingons so and with fear about what this would do to the peace talks, Kirk and McCoy beam over after gravity is restored to see if they can give medical assistance.  The chancellor dies, despite McCoy's efforts, because of a lack of knowledge of Klingon anatomy.  The chancellor's right-hand man, General Chang (Plummer) arrests Kirk and McCoy for the murder of the chancellor and the others, given that the Enterprise disabled the Klingon ship.  They are taken away to stand trial in a Klingon court.

Meanwhile, Spock, as acting captain, order an investigation.  Star Fleet command orders them back home, but they have "malfunctions" that stop them from following that particular order.  After an exhausting search, Chekov and Valeris turn up the environmental suits that went to the Klingon ship, but are unable to determine who wore them.  Scotty personally counts all of the torpedoes in the bay, and discovers that all of them are present, despite that the computer log has been altered to show that two are missing.  Spock deduces that the saboteur is on board, but that there might have been a cloaked ship beneath them that could shoot while cloaked - a previously unheard of concept.  Spock observes, "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

After a clearly fixed trial, Kirk and Spock are declared guilty and sentenced to prison for life on the very harsh prison and mining colony on Rura Penthe.  There, they meet a shapeshifter (Iman) who helps them get to the surface of the planet and outside the magnetic filed that prevents transport only to turn them in to the Klingon guards.  She would get a full pardon for helping to kill them.  Once Kirk realizes this, he gets into a scuffle with her, and she morphs to look like him, to confuse McCoy and keep him from interfering.  When the guards arrive, they, too, get confused and shoot the shapeshifter, vaporizing her instead of Kirk.  Immediately before they shoot Kirk and McCoy, Spock locks onto the signal he had placed on Kirk and transports them back to the ship.

After determining which crew members own the two space suits that had gone onto the Klingon ships, Chekov finds those crewmen dead.  Spock puts out the information that the crewmen are, indeed, alive and recovering in sickbay, hoping to lure the true saboteur.  Sure enough, the culprit springs their trap: Valeris enters sickbay with a phaser only to discover Kirk and Spock waiting for her.  After a brutal interrogation/mind-meld, Spock determines that she had worked with General Chang and various members of Star Fleet to destroy both the chancellor and the infant peace between the two governing bodies.  He also learned that the torpedoes had indeed come from a cloaked Bird of Prey beneath them, as he had surmised.

After getting the coordinates of the peace conference from Captain Sulu of the Excelsior, the two ships rush to the scene, have a fire fight with the prototype Bird of Prey, and stop an assassin from killing the Federation president.  The Klingons and Federation vow anew to work for peace.  Basing in the success of one final glorious mission, the Enterprise crew takes a turn around the galaxy.  Indeed, our heroes fly off into the sunset.

This plot is very involving, probably because of its strong ties to real life.  Although I was quite unaware at the time of the political climate, I have since discovered (because of the behind the scenes) that this was a direct commentary on what was going on between Russia and the US at the time - the end of the Cold War, and rebuilding of Russia.  

The racism (species-ism?) in the movie also gives it a very "real" feeling.  Gene Roddenberry - who this film was dedicated to, it was released shortly after he died - had a real problem with the script.  He took issue with that Kirk and other members of the Federation would be saying such racist things against the Klingons.  He had hoped we would have been past all that by now.  I think, however, that he had forgotten some of his own work in terms of racism in the original series (the white/black and black/white race or the Vulcans and Romulans and the crewman's bigotry towards Spock upon seeing the Romulans, for example).  It is my sad thought that racism will never be destroyed on an individual level.  Instead, I see us taking away the power of prejudice - not allowing it to help us make decisions or run governments.  Prejudice, I hope, will become an individual failing, and not that by which we exist as a society.  I think this film speaks highly to that - that peace triumphs over prejudice.  Even Brock Peters, a fantastic African-American actor who played Admiral Cartwright - a man who could not stand the alliance with the Klingons - had difficulty speaking the lines that he did.  It seemed so vile to him, such a parallel to the racism that he had personally encountered in his life, that he had to do the speech in several takes - never all in one go.  But he thought that that perspective was important to have in the film.  And I do, too.

Notably, Gene Roddenberry saw a screening of Star Trek VI three days before he died and enjoyed it.

An interesting note - the penal colony feels very much like Star Wars.  It could be the more creative alien makeup, the dirt, or the fact that the Universal Translator is broken.

The mind meld between Spock and Valeris feels like a massive invasion - something wildly out of character for Spock.  It is so uncomfortable, it almost feels like watching a rape of the mind.  I am clearly not alone on this, as everyone in the crew, even Spock, seemed very disturbed by what was happening on that bridge.

Overall, this is an excellent ending for the original series.  It ends up very warm and hopeful.  In the behind-the-scenes, all of the crew were interviewed and said that the series had "ended" so many times that they didn't actually believe it.  As Nimoy said, "And I'll say goodbye again, and then we'll see if the phone rings," and then laughed in his big, booming laugh.  And, indeed, the phone did ring for him one more time in Star Trek - almost 20 years later.  I am pleased to say goodbye again to Star Trek's original cast in Star Trek VI - a totally worth-while movie.