So, wow!  After the recent Comic-Con the web has been flooded with all sorts of teases about upcoming movies, TV shows, and other geeky goodness.  Here’s some of the best stuff that I’ve found:

After so many years of speculation and false starts, the sequel to Tron is finally, actually happening!!  Check out the STUNNING trailer here.  It’s going to be in IMAX 3-D??  I’m THERE.

I cannot believe they’re actually making a Jonah Hex movie.  (And with Josh Brolin, no less!)  Check out the poster.

The ending of Lost revealed?  Um, not quite.  Check out this video from the Lost panel!  Quite a lot of additional footage from that panel can be found here.  For some reason, Michael Emmerson’s fake audition for the role of Hurley isn’t included, but you can find that here.  Funny stuff.

Here’s a pretty bad-ass trailer for Season 2 of The Clone Wars.  I actually found the first season to be fairly watchable, and this glimpse at the next season looks pretty promising.

You know what it takes to sell real estate?  The same thing it takes to re-make one of the most brilliant TV shows of all time.  Well, AMC’s version of The Prisoner, starring Ian McKellan and Jim Caviezel, is nearly upon us.  Check out this lengthy trailer.  I must say, that looks pretty damn intriguing!

Amongst all of this glorious fun is the extraordinarily troubling continuing story about the newly-resurrected Futurama’s uncertain future.  This report from the Futurama panel at the con is grim indeed.  Can’t everybody just make nice already?!!

That’s all for now — have a great weekend everybody!!

On Monday I posted a link to a phenomenal article listing the 50 Greatest Movie Trailers of All Time.

It’s a fantastic list, but I think they missed a few:

Star Wars: Episode I Teaser Trailer

Every time I watch this spectacular trailer, I think to myself, “man, I REALLY want to see the amazing movie that this trailer promised!!”  Set to John Williams’ iconic music, this parade of imagery and new and familiar characters was the first two minutes of new Star Wars footage released for nearly two decades, and I can still remember the incredible excitement it inspired.  Who knew what disappointment lay ahead…

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Teaser Trailer

Perfectly narrated by Christopher Plummer (who starred as the villainous General Chang in the film), this reverent trailer set the tone perfectly for the final mission of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise.  The array of imagery from the Original Series and the first 5 movies is clever, and tugs at the heart-strings.

Superman Returns Teaser Trailer

Say what you will about the finished film (I love it, though I know I’m in the minority), this trailer is magnificent.  John Williams’ magnificent Superman themes and Marlon Brando’s narration are beautifully woven into a parade of spectacular imagery that drew connections to Richard Donner’s original Superman film, while also promising an exciting 21st century adventure.

Spider-Man First Theatrical Trailer

IFC listed the Spider-Man teaser trailer.  Personally, I hated that trailer — I thought it looked cheap, and even more-so, that it was ridiculous.  (The bad guys didn’t see that ENORMOUS web??)  However, the first full theatrical trailer for the film really got my blood pumping by the way it perfectly captured the image of Spider-Man I’d always had in my mind from reading the comics. “Who am I? I’m Spider-Man.”

Total Recall Teaser Trailer

This is a pretty terrible trailer, actually — but I have such strong memories of seeing it as a kid, and being completely intrigued/freaked out.  “How would you know… if someone stole your mind?”  It’s funny the way the weirdest things stay with you.

What do you all think?  What great movie trailers have I (and IFC) missed?

Looking to waste a little time?

Take a look at this amazing article, listing the 50 Greatest Movie Trailers of All Time!  Even better, it’s not just a list — they have embedded video of all 50 trailers listed.

It’s an interesting list.  I was particularly glad to see that they included the very first early teaser for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I still remember the excitement of seeing that great slow pan of the entire Fellowship that closes the trailer, as the titles and release dates of all three films slowly appear on-screen.  I was also pleased to see the great trailer for Goldeneye on their list.  It’s a magnificent trailer that reintroduced the world to Bond.  I actually have the spectacular music from that trailer on my ipod!

C’mon back here on Wednesday to discuss a few great trailers that I think they missed…

When I purchased a Blu-Ray player last year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t go out and re-purchase all the great movies that I own on DVD when they’re released on Blu-Ray.  This has been an easy promise to keep, mostly because DVDs played in my Blu-Ray player look FANTASTIC.

But when I read about the new restoration being done to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (one of my absolute favorite films — just take a look back at Wednesday’s post if you don’t believe me) for it’s release on Blu-Ray, I had to take the plunge.

I must admit, somewhat sheepishly, that this is actually the THIRD time I have bought a copy of Star Trek II.  I held off on buying the original bare-bones DVD release from 2000, preferring instead to buy the two-disc “Special Collector’s Edition” when it was released in 2002.  Unfortunately, while I enjoyed all the special features on that DVD, the version of the film included was a new Director’s Cut.  It was neat to see some additional scenes (which I hadn’t seen for years and years, ever since catching an extended TV version of the film in a hotel room once as a kid), but many of the additions were clunky and disruptive to the pitch-perfect pace of the theatrical film.  So of course I went out and picked up a copy of that first bare-bones DVD, so I could have the theatrical version to watch.

So what did I think of this new version?  Was it worth paying to own The Wrath of Khan for a third time?

Absolutely.  The movie looks FANTASTIC on Blu-Ray.  The colors are bright and vibrant (check out the main viewscreen graphics during the opening Kobayashi Maru sequence, for example), and the dark backgrounds and shadows in many of the scenes (this is a DARK movie!) are deep and rich.  The sound is terrific — the dialogue is all crystal-clear, and James Horner’s magnificent scores (one of the best movie scores EVER) is given a lot of weight and heft.

I am not an expert in things like film grain or other aspects of the restoration of old movies, but let me give you one example that, for me, highlights the excellent work done to clean up this film for its Blu-Ray release.  In every home video release of Star Trek II that I have ever seen (including both DVDs that I own), there has always been some distracting dirt or grain or something over the scene of the Enterprise leaving drydock.  There’s one shot in particular — a view of the Enterprise from behind, in which the Big E’s nacelle fills most of the left side of the screen.  Having seen this movie MANY many times, I have always noticed a large distracting piece of dirt in the frame right in the middle of the nacelle.  Now, FINALLY, on the Blu-Ray version, that dirt is gone!!

Here’s some more info on the Blu-Ray presentation of Star Trek II from the terrific Digital Bits web-site:  ”As I mentioned, the new Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan restoration looks spectacular. I’ve seen this film projected in high quality in recent years, and the new presentation captures that experience wonderfully. The film (in fact, nearly ALL the Trek films) have always had a soft look about them, owing to the stock used and the sort of “budget production” approach with which they were shot, but the overall detail is quite good and is very true to the theatrical presentation. There’s light, refined grain structure visible, and color and contrast are excellent. The image is very nicely film-like and it’s just a wonderful viewing experience. Bottom line: This is exactly how Khan is supposed to look, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”  (Read Bill Hunt’s full review here.)

I adore Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and it’s a delight to finally see this film presented the way it should be seen.  Magnificent.

I’m a big Star Trek fan.

OK, that’s probably an enormous understatement.

There has been a LOT of Trek released over the years, and while there have been some missteps (I’m looking at you, Star Trek: Nemesis), there is so much of it that I love so dearly.  The antics and new, big ideas of the original series.  The space-opera writ large of the six original Trek movies.  The serious and cerebral Star Trek: The Next Generation (which is the series I grew up on).  The dense, dark, and sophisticated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (especially seasons 4-7).  I can even find some things to enjoy in Star Trek: Enterprise (particularly in the final two seasons).

But for me, when I think of Star Trek, I think of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  This is the pinnacle of what Star Trek can and should be.  This is the masterpiece that I keep hoping will someday be re-captured by a new Trek adventure.  (J.J. Abrams’ new film came the closest any new Trek has come in almost 20 years, but his film is still but a shadow of Khan.)

Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t know the plot?  In the Original Series episode “Space Seed,” Captain James T. Kirk accidentally revived the charismatic megalomaniac, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), and 70 of his followers, all genetically enhanced supermen who had conquered a quarter of planet Earth centuries ago during the 1990s and then put themselves into cryogenic freeze when their empire fell. Khan tried to seize the Enterprise in an attempt to restore his empire, and when he failed, Kirk marooned him and his crew on the deserted planet Ceti Alpha VI.  Now, 15 years later, Khan and what’s left of his people manage to capture another ship (the ill-fated U.S.S. Reliant) and attempt to take lethal revenge on the now Admiral Kirk.

Why it’s great: Allow me to quote liberally from the sadly-now-defunct web-site dvdjournal.com’s review of Star Trek II on DVD: “Thank the heavens for The Wrath of Khan, which saved Star Trek from itself. Star Trek: The Motion Picture was an artistic and dramatic failure. Nonetheless, the box office tallies were strong, so Paramount gambled on the notion that another film could amortize the first’s enormous cost overruns and prove that the studio really did have a cash cow on its hands. After all, in show business a movie doesn’t have to be good as long as it’s profitable. But lo and behold, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was good. Really, really good. Twenty years, seven movies, and four franchise TV series later, reasoned consensus still regards it as the best Trek movie of them all. We aren’t talking good just in that “Not bad for [haughty sneer] Star Trek” way. Simply as a movie this multi-layered action picture works so well you don’t need to be a “Trekkie” to enjoy it. Supported by James Horner’s exuberant orchestral score and outstanding effects work by Industrial Lights and Magic, it is a visually rich, briskly entertaining movie constructed from a script that’s clever and witty without being “intellectual” (God forbid), that’s a pitch-perfect balance of space opera pirate saga, unforced humor, and (most welcome of all) realistic character drama. Woven into the gangbusters goings-on are meditations that humanize the larger-than-life James Kirk. Here’s our long-time galactic hero at last facing the fact that he’s not the young space cowboy he used to be (his needing spectacles is a nice touch). His unscheduled reunion with an ex-lover (Bibi Besch in her best-ever screen time) also delivers a grown-up hotheaded son he barely knows. Shortly after Khan’s first attack on the Enterprise, which leaves the ship crippled and a score of young crew members dead, Kirk must swallow the bitter pill that his own failure almost brought about their destruction. Our aging admiral and crew may descend to self-parodying plastic action figures in some later entries, but in this movie they’re allowed to be vulnerably, dimensionally human as themes of pursuit, age, death, and regeneration appear through the phaser fire.”  (Read the full review, by Mark Bourne, here.)

Amen!

Is the above not enough for you? How about some words from Quentin Tarantino, who included Star Trek II in his “QT FEST” movie marathon in 2001. The below excerpts are from aintitcoolnews.com’s report:

Now folks, I wish to God I could transport each and every last one of you to hear Quentin’s introduction of WRATH OF KHAN. He started geeking out like you just wouldn’t believe. He became possessed with the spirit of Khan, he loves this film in an amazingly equal way to the way I love this film.

Says Tarantino: “I like the original Star Trek series, I think everyone that grew up at the time period we did can’t not have a great deal of affection for these guys. But I truly feel this is Classic Trek’s Finest Hour!” Then he started chatting about Pauline Kael’s review of STAR TREK II… “Kael’s review of STAR TREK II is my favorite review of hers, and Kael is my favorite critic ever. She was actually more influential on me than any filmmaker was. Her reviews just spoke to me. Her review started off as a 3 page retrospective on the career of Ricardo Montalban. How he was a great actor stuck in the ‘Mexican’ role, the ‘Latin’ role and the ‘Chick’ role. Then Kael says that he never had a part that tested his depth or talent ‘til he played Khan in SPACE SEED and on this episodic science fiction television series he finally got the role that he was meant for. Afterwards he went into obscurity, then FANTASY ISLAND and those Corinthian Leather Car Commercials. And it looked like Ricardo’s career was dying when lo and behold Paramount decides to do a relatively big budget feature film sequel to a guest star appearance on an old Trek episode… and Ricardo Montalban knew what he had! This was the best role of his 50 some odd year career! And he performed it in some sort of weird Shakespearean/Gladiator style epic thing. This is THE REVENGE MOVIE and in this you absolutely believe he has every right to win…”

Now at this point, Quentin is so excited that he’s nearly foaming at the mouth… then in a strange beautiful geek spilling forth… “Ooooh AD-mirAL… Admiral Kirk never bothered to check up on us…. I Wish to go ON hurTING you, I’ll leave you as you left me marooned for all eternity in the center of a DEAD PLANET…. These people have sworn to live & die at my command 200 years before you were born….. Ah KIRK, My old Friend, Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? IT IS VERY COLD IN SPACE!… From HELL’s heart I Stab at thee! For Hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee…. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and round perdition’s flames before I give him up….”

The audience was sent into Geek Nirvana here… I mean this is Quentin basically performing all of Khan’s lines loudly and greatly exaggerated while laughing giggling and smiling like a hyena on a freshly fallen fawn. Well… Quentin said it all… I mean this movie is a thing of perfection. I love this movie deeply deeply deeply. This is the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK of Star Trek, and I would hold it equally as dearly. It doesn’t have the audacity of effects, but dammit, Montalban is just so damn good, and the crew is so dead on perfect… and the film is written to absolute perfection… Well even people that hate Trek generally will kiss the ass of Khan. It is Glorious.

I wholeheartedly agree!

I’ll be back on Friday with my thoughts on the new Blu-Ray release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  For today, let me leave you with one more great line from Trek II that Tarantino missed: “Khan, you bloodsucker. You’ve managed to KILL just about everybody else but like a poor marksman you keep MISSING the target!”

Let’s establish right from the get-go that I have not read any of the Harry Potter books.

Well, actually, that’s not quite true.  The day before the first Harry Potter movie opened, the friends I was going to see the movie with found out that I hadn’t read the book, and insisted that I do so before seeing the movie.  So I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in a few hours, the night before seeing the flick.  To be honest, I didn’t much care for the book, nor did I much care from the movie.

Despite that less-than-auspicious beginning, I have seen all of the other Harry Potter films.  I found the second film to be as uninspired as the first, and while I enjoyed Alfonso Cuaron’s direction of the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, that movie’s story remains my least favorite of the entire series, mostly due to all of the time-travel silliness.  Things picked up with the fourth installment, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which I found to be much more complex and interesting than the first three tales (many of my friends say the same of the novel).  But it was only with the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, that I walked out of the movie theatre completely dazzled by what I had seen.  I truly loved that film, finding it to be dramatic, emotional, and completely engaging from the first scene to the last.  Having not read the rest of books, that movie left me quite desperate to see the sixth installment, so I could find out what happens next!

So, did Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince live up to my feelings about the Order of the Phoenix?

Well, not quite, but I did still find it to be a delightfully entertaining and compelling film, one that is very successful in its own right.

My greatest pleasure from watching the Half-Blood Prince (and, frankly, ALL of this series so far) has been seeing the terrific group of kids grow up from film to film.  I’m thinking of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, of course, but also of all the other kids in supporting roles who we have come to know and love while watching them in six movies.   The kids are all terrific, and the consistency of their presence (even those of them who only appear in small, background roles) really helps bring the story to life, and lends Hogwarts the feeling of a living, breathing community.  It’s quite an astounding thing to sit back and contemplate that not a single actor has had to be re-cast from the first film!  And it’s also astonishing that they have all grown up to be such fine actors and actresses, with nary a stinker in the bunch.  I criticized, a few moments ago, the first two Harry Potter installments that were directed by Chris Columbus, but I must heap praise on Mr. Columbus’ casting abilities.  With each new film, the success of those choices he made almost a decade ago becomes more and more undeniable.

Visually, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a delight.  There are some moments of extraordinary spectacle, to be sure, and they are dazzling.  (I’m thinking about the Death Eater attacks early in the film; Ron’s Quidditch successes; and Harry and Dumbledore’s attempt to destroy the Horcrux in the hidden cave.)  But what has been particularly pleasing about these past several Harry Potter films is the way that every scene seems to be filled with some form of magic or another.  The line between what is a set or a practical effect and what is a computer-enhanced visual effects shot has become completely blurred, so the viewer isn’t distracted by the visual razzle-dazzle.  Rather, it all blends together in the creation of a fully-realized magical world for these wonderful characters and stories to inhabit.  This is an extraordinarily impressive achievement.

Wow, so far so good!  So why didn’t I love this new film to quite the same degree that I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

Well, two reasons.  First, I have found all of the Harry Potter movies (and, again, I can only judge the movies, not the books) to be somewhat limited, narratively, by the conceit that every film takes place over the course of one school year at Hogwarts.  It’s a clever idea, but in execution it means that, in each movie, the events set up at the start of the film (and the start of the new year) cannot be resolved until the end of the year.  I have found this frustrating, at times, as I ask myself why aren’t the characters being more pro-active in working to resolve the situations they’re facing.  I think that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the most successful film at addressing this concern, as the story of McCarthyism at Hogwarts provided the characters with a fully believable excuse as to why they couldn’t focus on the growing evil outside of the school walls — because they were distracted by all the goings on within the school.

That’s not to say that I found the Hogwarts storylines in the Half-Blood Prince to be boring.  Quite the contrary, I was quite taken by all the romantic goings-on.  But I still found myself asking, after the events of the last film and the horrific Death Eater attacks at the start of this one, why weren’t any of the “good” wizards more actively fighting Voldemort and his minions?  What happened to the student-lead “Dumbledore’s army”?  Where were the members of the Order of the Phoenix?  Just what were they DOING all year long??  These nagging questions weakened the over-all film for me.

Which brings me to my second concern, which is that of all the movies, this one felt the most like important bits were missing, and I was left with a LOT of questions that I felt should have been addressed.  Here are a few:

Exactly how did Dumbledore locate the Horcrux that he and Harry attempt to destroy towards the end of the film?  Where was that creepy cliff/cave located?  Was there some significance to that spot?

Where/how exactly did Dumbledore get all those memories of Voldemort?

What exactly was the transportation box that Malfoy used to breach Hogwarts’ defenses?  Why was that just lying around Hogwarts, and how was he able to repair it?

What is the significance of Snape being the Half-Blood Prince?  What does that mean?  Who gave him that name?  Is one of his parents a muggle?  Why does that matter?  Seeing as how “the Half Blood Prince” is the title of the film, I expected the Half-Blood Prince, whatever/whoever he was, to have a much larger significance to the story as opposed to just a couple of seemigly throw-away lines.

I assume that more details on all of the above can be found in the book.  I understand that cuts have to be made in an adaptation, but I would have expected to get some answers to the above questions in the film itself.

So those things were a bit disappointing to me.  But, still, they don’t come close to outweighing everything that I enjoyed about the film.  I haven’t even mentioned the spectacular “adult” cast.  As always, I was completely bowled over by Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.  Nothing against the late, great Richard Harris (who portrayed Dumbledore in the first two films), but I have vastly preferred Gambon’s version of the character, and I was thrilled that Dumbledore was such a central character here.  It was also nice to see a little more of Snape than usual, although as with every previous film I wish that the marvelous Alan Rickman had gotten far more screen-time!  Jim Broadbent was a terrific addition to the ensemble as Professor Horace Slughorn.  He was able to seamlessly balance silly comedy (his introduction in the form of an arm-chair, for instance) with deep sadness.  Finally, a shout-out to Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, so wonderful in every one of her scenes.  I understand that the focus of this series is on the kids, but I wish that each one of these amazing adults had multiple movies of their own to headline!!  They’re all so terrific, and I feel that there is so much more to each of their stories that I’d love to know about.  (I know, I know, read the books!!)

In the end, while not, to me, as unqualified a success as the Order of the Phoenix, I thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and have no reluctance in recommending it to you.  Bring on the two-part finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

Here’s a fascinating/hilarious article assessing the Ghostbusters‘ Risky Business Plan.  Those of you in finance, take note!  And, speaking of Ghostbusters, here’s a link to 50 Reasons Why Ghostbusters Just Might Be The Greatest Film of All Time.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles show-runner Josh Friedman has a lengthy, funny, and sort-of-sad assessment of the cancellation of his show that is worth checking out.

Here’s an interesting piece about the Seven Director’s Cuts That You Didn’t Realize That You Wanted.   I DEFINITELY would love to see an alternate cut of The Fountain!

I loved this article about the 10 Most Polarizing Films of the Last Decade.  I strongly disagree with some of his opinions (I really enjoyed both Watchmen and Fahrenheit 9/11, while I had absolutely no patience for Eyes Wide Shut), but I was THRILLED to find someone other than me who loves the criminally underrated Vanilla Sky!!  Follow the link and join the debate.

Here’s another great list: The fine folks at DVDActive.com (one of my favorite DVD-related web-sites) have put together their list of the 10 Franchises That Deserve Better.  It’s a great read, and I am in full agreement with most of their choices.

Did you happen to catch William Shatner’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien last month?  Check out the clip on Trekmovie.com.  It’s worth watching for the insanity of the last 30 seconds.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  See you back here on Monday!

I can’t believe I actually purchased a book with Star Trek: Voyager in the title!  (For those of you just tuning in, despite my intense love for Star Trek, I have a rather large amount of disdain for Voyager, the most boring and uninspired of the Trek series.)  And even more than that — I can’t believe I liked it!!

Pocket Books has published Star Trek: Voyager novels before (though not for several years).  So what prompted me to pick this one up?

Following David Mack’s magnificent three-book Destiny series (which I reviewed here) that involved characters from all of the 24th century Trek TV shows (Next Gen, DS9, and Voyager) and wreaked an enormous amount of havoc within the established Trek universe, I have been chomping at the bit to see where the story goes from here.  Keith R.A. DeCandidio’s excellent novel A Singular Destiny was the first follow-up (reviewed here), and two subsequent novels have been released over the past few months: Over a Torrent Sea, by Christopher L. Bennett (which explores the ramifications of the events of Destiny on Captain William Riker and his crew on the U.S.S. Titan, and which I’ll be reviewing here soon), and Kirsten Beyer’s Voyager novel, Full Circle, which bridges the gap between the series finale of Voyager (and the handful of Voyager novels that Pocket books released soon after) and the events of Destiny.

Full Circle is a lengthy book (clocking in at 561 pages) that really feels like two books combined into one.  (That is not a complaint.)  The bulk of the first half of the novel follows up on a storyline begun in the latter days of the Voyager series: the idea that a sect of Klingons has become convinced that Miral, the daughter of Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres, is the Kuvah’magh, the long-predicted Klingon savior.  Upon Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant, B’Elanna takes sanctuary with Miral at the Klingon monastery on Boreth, where she seeks to discover the truth behind the prophecies of the Kuvah’magh.  Of course, it isn’t long before Miral is kidnapped and Torres, and the rest of the crew of Voyager, find themselves swept up in a Klingon feud that is thousands of years old.

The second half of the novel jumps back in forth in time over the course of the next few years, catching the Voyager story-lines up with the events of the last few years worth of Trek novels that culminated in Destiny.  Voyager is home, and back on active duty with Starfleet in the Alpha Quadrant.  But none of the crew has had an easy time re-adjusting to life at home, and terrible tragedies continue to befall them.

I was very impressed with the way that Ms. Beyer was able to craft an engaging, emotional story-line for every main character from Voyager.  Each character has his/her own journey to travel in this book — many of them, excruciatingly difficult ones.  Despite watching seven seasons of Voyager TV episodes, I never felt the characters were fleshed out to any sort of degree — they never felt like real, living people to me.  Yet in Ms. Beyer’s book, I found myself actually caring for these characters!  I was totally swept up in each of the stories being told, and the book’s chronological jumps, that could easily have been confusing or distracting, were instead exciting and revelatory.  And I loved the sense of continuity the book created, as the stories connected to many different plot threads from the last season of Voyager and also to the recent other Trek novels (particularly the shocking death of a MAJOR Voyager character in Peter David’s Next Gen novel, Before Dishonor.)

While it definitely works as a complete story, Full Circle is also clearly an attempt to launch a new series of Voyager novels (in the fashion of Pocket Books’ successful post-finale series of DS9 and Next Gen novels).  There are a lot of story-lines that are left hanging (not in a disappointing way, but more in an “I can’t wait to see what happens next” sort of way, which is a tough balance to find).  And I really can’t wait to see what happens next!  Unbelievable.  Between Full Circle, “The Mirror-Scaled Serpent” (the Voyager novella by Keith R.A. DeCandido in the Mirror Universe anthology), and “Place of Exile” (the Voyager novella by Christopher L. Bennett in the Myriad Universes anthology), I am forced to admit that a rocking Voyager story can indeed be told!  (Too bad the actual TV series was never this good!!)

I love Harold Ramis.  For his performance as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (and Ghostbusters 2) alone, the man deserves to be recognized as a comic genius.  When you also consider his involvement in films such as Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Groundhog Day, Anaylze This, and so many more, then you have to realize what an impact he has had on film comedies over the past 30 years.

And yet, it seems like Mr. Ramis has fallen out of the spotlight in the aughts.  He’s had some great (albeit small) acting roles (in Orange County, Knocked Up, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), but none of the films he has directed recently have made much of an impact: Bedazzled (in 2000), Anaylze That (the misbegotten sequel to Analyze This from 2002), and The Ice Harvest (in 2005) all came and went without much fanfare.

So I was very excited when I read, last year, that Mr. Ramis was hooking up with Jack Black and quite a few members of the Judd Apatow comedy troupe (Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as well as a number of other very funny people (Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria) for the Biblical-comedy Year One.

For a movie crafted by so many talented folks, though, the result is surprisingly mediocre.  Oh, it’s funny, don’t get me wrong.  There are plenty of big laughs.  But there are also plenty of scenes that are very flat, with few if any laughs at all.  And, even of the jokes that work, a lot of the humor of the film feels rather tame, rather familiar.  Stacked up against the great comedies of the past few years (mostly from the Apatow brand) like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Knocked Up, etc. etc., — comedies that took your breath away they were so funny, and, even more than that, felt like original, unique works, very different from any movie comedies that you’d ever seen before — Year One pales in comparison.

My biggest joy in watching the film came from sitting back and watching the great cast at play.  Oliver Platt, in particular, is just marvelously loony as Sodom’s High Priest.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of screen-time that the great David Cross (who plays Cain) got.  I didn’t expect him to reappear after the early scene with his brother Abel (Paul Rudd), so I was pleased by his large role in the second half of the film.  I should also mention Xander Berkeley (George Mason from the early days of 24) who is just terrific as the King, and Vinnie Jones (a familiar face from Guy Ritchie’s films) as the menacing soldier Sargon.  (I had to look up his character’s name on imdb.)

Year One is a funny film, and I enjoyed it.  But I had expected much more.  It’s not quite the triumphant return to grace for Harold Ramis that I had been anticipating.

Yesterday I began reviewing a collection of short-stories entitled The Sky’s the Limit, which was part of Pocket Books’ 20th anniversary salute to Star Trek: The Next Generation.   In my last post, I reviewed the stories set during the run of the Next Gen TV show.  Today I’ll turn my attention to the stories set after “All Good Things,” Next Gen’s series finale.

‘Twould Ring the Bells of Heaven, by Amy Sisson — Set soon after the events of “All Good Things,” this tale finds Deanna Troi leading an away team assigned to help a group of scientists studying the ring system of a planet nicknamed Heaven.  There are some interesting scientific notions mixed into the story, which I enjoyed, and a nice sci-fi mystery.  It was a good idea to focus on Counselor Troi at this point in Next Gen’s history, as she began stepping into more of a leadership role among the Enterprise’s command structure.

Friends with the Sparrows, by Christopher L. Bennett — The classic Next Gen episode “Darmok” introduced us to the Children of Tama, a race of aliens who speak only in metaphor.  With this story, Mr. Bennett really dives into many of the fascinating questions that a consideration of that episode would bring: How do the Tamarians teach their vocabulary to their children?  How do they communicate technical information?  How do they convey to one another the full stories behind their myths in the first place?  It’s hard to avoid asking those questions after having watched “Darmok” a few times, and I was tickled by Mr. Bennett’s attempts to provide answers and flesh out Tamarian culture.  This story also focuses on Data’s struggles with his emotion chip (from Star Trek: Generations).  That aspect of the story is a quite a leap beyond what we saw of Data in that film, but nonetheless works when you consider how many more challenges Data must have had to struggle with (beyond what we saw in Generations) in terms of adjusting to his newfound emotions.  (I should also mention that this story contains the best line in the entire collection: “Mirab-his-sails-unfurled factor what, sir?”  Brilliant.)

Suicide Note, by Geoff Trowbridge — After the Federation’s alliance with the Romulan Empire (to fight against the Dominion, as depicted in the later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Captain Picard is finally in a position to fulfill a promise made long before.  In the excellent third-season episode “The Defector” (one of the first scripts by Ronald D. Moore), Romulan Admiral Jarok defects to the Federation in an effort to prevent the outbreak of war.  When he discovers that he has been deceived (the evidence he thought he had discovered of Romulan war plans was just an elaborate test of his loyalty), the Admiral kills himself, leaving a message to his wife that Picard promises to one day deliver.  This is a wonderful, emotional story, and a great follow-up to a classic episode.  Just terrific.

Four Lights, by Keith R.A. DeCandido — Another great follow up to a classic Next Gen episode.  In the waning days of the Dominion War, Captain Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise-E rescue a Cardassian survivor from a Dominion attack — Gul Madred, the Cardassian who brutally tortured Picard in the two-part episode “Chains of Command.”  Major credit to Mr. DeCandido for choosing to follow up on such a fascinating dangling story-line.  I was enjoyably surprised at the unexpected ways that Picard’s interactions with Madred unfolded.  I also loved the glimpse into just what the crew of the Enterprise was up to during the tumultuous years of the Dominion conflict.  This is a fertile ground for stories, and while a few novels have given us glimpses of some of the Enterprise’s adventures during this time period, I still feel that there are still a lot more stories to be told…

‘Til Death, by Bob Ingersoll & Thomas F. Zahler — When a terrible attack on an away mission leaves Will Riker near death just a few weeks before his marriage to Deanna Troi, he must contemplate what his final message to his imzadi could possibly be.  This is a sweet story with some fascinating connections to an episode of the Original Series.  But I must confess to some disappointment.  When I saw that there was a Riker story in this collection set before Star Trek: Nemesis, I had hoped that it would shed some light on something the films glossed over: what really prompted Riker and Troi, after years of friendship on board the Enterprise, to finally decide to resume their romantic relationship and then get married?  Yes, I know they hooked up under the sort-of-influence of the youthful properties of the Briar Patch in Star Trek: Insurrection, but was that really the only reason?  I’ve always felt there was more to that story.  This is nothing against ‘Til Death — it’s a lovely tale.  Just not the story I was hoping for.

On the Spot, by David A. McIntee — Worf deals with adopting Spot after Data’s demise in Star Trek: Nemesis, and a bizarre alien creature causes trouble on board the Enterprise.  Portions of this story are told from Spot’s perspective.  That’s an interesting choice, but not one that appealed to me.

Trust Yourself When All Men Doubt You, by Michael Schuster & Steve Mollmann — At a crossroads after the traumatic events of Star Trek: Nemesis, Jean-Luc Picard must decide whether he his truly ready to resume command of the Enterprise.  He finds some comfort in a letter to him written years earlier by Captain Thomas Halloway.  This final story is a nice bookend to the first story, also by Mr. Schuster and Mr. Mollmann, and the revelation of Captain Halloway’s ultimate fate is a powerful one.  If I have a complaint, it’s that the resolution of Picard’s emotional turmoil is a little too easy.  I think Picard’s mental state following the events of Nemesis probably warranted a longer story.

So there you have it.  The Sky’s the Limit is a terrifically entertaining collection of stories from some of Pocket Books’ most talented authors.  I really enjoyed the variety of the stories — they cover the entire time-period of the Next Generation and spread the focus amongst all of the characters.  While some stories spoke to me more than others, the over-all quality was very high.  In the end, it’s a worthy salute to The Next Generation, and reading this book made me want to go back and watch many of the episodes referenced within.  What more could I ask?

2007 was, believe it or not, the TWENTIETH anniversary of the launch of the very first Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: The Next Generation.  The pilot episode, “Encounter at Farpoint,” is terribly clunky when looked at today, but as a kid watching that very first episode I was blown away, and hooked for life.

During 2007, Pocket Books released a number of great novels celebrating Next Gen’s 20th anniversary, but one that I missed was a short-story anthology called The Sky’s The Limit.  I’m glad that I have remedied my oversight, because this collection is a delight.  The fourteen stories are presented chronologically, spanning the years between a time immediately before “Encounter at Farpoint,” and the time immediately after the last Next Gen feature film, Star Trek: Nemesis.

Meet with Triumph and Disaster, by Michael Schuster & Steve Mollmann — As Starfleet prepares for the launch of the Enterprise-D, the man who supervised her construction, Captain Thomas Halloway, is faced with a momentous choice.  One of the shortest stories in the collection, it’s a great introduction to the era of Next Gen, and a delightful fleshing out of a man only glimpsed very briefly in one episode.

Acts of Compassion, by Dayton ward & Kevin Dilmore — Beverly Crusher and Tasha Yar are tasked with seeing to the safe return of three Starfleet Officers who were captured in Cardassian territory.  Needless to say, the mission hits a few bumps along the way.  I was glad to see that Tasha was not ignored by the authors contributing to this anthology, and I really enjoyed this glimpse at the relationship between these two women.  I can’t think of any first-season episodes that gave us much information about how Tasha and Beverly interacted, but Ward & Dilmore do a great job in conveying the very different ways that these two officers viewed the world.

Redshift, by Richard C. White — Set during Next Gen’s second season, this story focuses on the early days aboard the Enterprise of new Chief Medical Officer Dr. Katherine Pulaski.  Pulaski was an interesting character who, I feel, was done a disservice by the writers when she vanished off the show at the end of that season.  It’s nice to see her character fleshed out here, and White creates a crackling adventure scenario that keeps the story moving.

Among the Clouds, by Scott Pearson –A mishap in the lower stratosphere of a Jovian planet sends Geordi LaForge plummeting down through the clouds of ammonia ice to his certain death.  The story moves at a rapid pace, bouncing back and forth between the events that lead to Geordi’s situation and his efforts to save himself.  This is a wonderful story of exploration, and Mr. Pearson creates a vivid alien world in his depiction of this planet and the strange life that the Enterprise crew discovers living within it.  There’s a nice grounding in real science mixed with some delightful sci-fi extrapolation, all wrapped up in a great story of Geordi’s good heart and incredible engineering abilities.  One of my favorite stories in the collection.

Thinking of You, by Greg Cox — Mr. Cox sends some love towards two great Next Gen supporting characters: Ensign Ro and Lieutenant Reginald Barclay.  The unlikely pair is sent to provide engineering assistance to Lwaxana Troi, but quickly find themselves caught up in a diplomatic negotiation gone terribly wrong.  Cox has a great ear for writing the dialogue of these three distinct characters — I loved the way he bounces the three of them off one another.  There are also some fascinating digressions that explore the dynamics of just how a holodeck would work.  Great stuff.

Turncoats, by Susan Schwartz — This story is a follow-up to the sixth season episode, “Face of the Enemy.”  I am not a big fan of that episode, but was nonetheless taken by this tale.  ”Face of the Enemy” introduced the character of Stefan DeSeve, a Federation defector to Romulus who returns to the Federation bearing critical information from Ambassador Spock.  That is an intriguing idea for a character, but DeSeve doesn’t get a lot of attention in the episode — he’s there more as a plot device, and after the episode he’s never heard from again.  Ms. Schwartz sets out to tell us more of his story.  It’s an interesting choice, to focus on so minor a character, but the result was successful (although I was less taken by the Enterprise-in-jeopardy side of the tale, as that didn’t seem to track all that consistently from where “Face of the Enemy” had left off).

Ordinary Days, by James Swallow — My favorite story in this collection.  Wesley Crusher is married and living on Dorvan V when Starfleet informs the colonists that they need to relocate, because a new treaty has ceded the planet to the Cardassians.  When the colonists resist the idea of leaving their home, Starfleet sends the U.S.S. Enterprise, commanded by Edward Jellico, to supervise their relocation.  This story is a bittersweet, emotional glimpse at the life that young Wesley Crusher COULD have lived, had he suppressed his unique gifts in an effort to live a more ordinary life.  The story unfolds at a leisurely pace, allowing the reader to slowly discover what is going on (and also to get to know and sympathize with Wesley in a way that we seldom did on the show).  Mr. Swallow resists any urge to present things simplistically — while Wesley’s absence from the Enterprise resulted in some terrible tragedies befalling that ship and crew, in many ways Wesley was able to find a home and personal connections in this life that he never did in the life we saw him live over the years of Next Gen.  Ordinary Days is a sweet, sad story, and it’s absolutely dynamite.

I’ll be back on Friday to discuss the rest of the short stories from The Sky’s the Limit, set during the period of the Next Gen movies.  See you then!

Earlier this year I wrote about The Phantom Edit of Star Wars: Episode I.  Michael Nichols was a fan of Star Wars who, like sane people world-wide, was tremendously disappointed with Episode I when it was released in 1999.  While the rest of us just whined to our friends, Mr. Nichols set out to see if some thoughtful re-editing of the material could shape a more successful film out of Episode I’s lengthy, bloated run-time.  As I discussed at length in my review, in my opinion Mr. Nichols succeeded wildly.  On the one hand, the film is still Episode I, and there’s only so much one can do with that story that, really didn’t need to be told.  On the other hand, by skillfully tightening up scenes, removing large swaths of dull and useless exposition, and cutting down much of the juvenile humor, Nichols was able to craft a much more dynamic narrative from the film.

When I read that he had also taken a pass at Episode II, I was ecstatic.  I was able to get my hands on his fan-edit last month, and as with his Phantom Edit of Episode I, I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Once again, Mr. Nichols demonstrates how a small trim (by removing just one line of dialogue) can really change the feeling of a scene for the better.  Let me give two examples.  In the opening sequence, after Amidala lands her ship on Coruscant, her bodyguard Captain Typho jogs up to her and says “We made it.  I guess I was wrong, there was no danger after all.”  Then, of course, Amidala’s ship explodes.  Typho’s dumb line takes all the air out of the scene — instead of it being a SHOCK when Amidala’s ship is destroyed, the audience is primed for something bad to happen by Typho’s ridiculous declaration.  So Nichols just snips out Typho’s line.  The queen lands her ship, steps onto the platform, and then BOOM.  Much more exciting moment.  Example number two takes place soon after, when Amidala enters Chancellor Palpatine’s office.  Yoda gives her a creepy greeting: “Seeing you alive brings warm feelings to my heart.”  OK, ew.  That bizarre line slams that scene to a halt, in my mind, as the audience tries to not think about what else of Yoda’s is warmed by seeing Natalie Portman.  So Nichols eliminates the line.  Amidala enters, and gets right down to business.  Much better.

As in his cut of Episode I, Nichols also removes most of the more juvenile and dumbed-down elements of the story.  Do you remember, with pain, all of the ridiculousness of C-3PO getting his head placed on the body of a battle droid, and then spouting all sorts of teeth-hurtingly bad puns?  Well, that’s gone completely!  Then there’s what could have been a cool moment, towards the end of the film, when we see that Count Dooku and the Geonosans have begun working on plans for the Death Star.  We see a display of the Death Star on a screen in the background, and eagle-eyed Star Wars fans sat up and said hey, cool!  But then Lucas proceeds to hit the audience over the head with this, showing the death-star graphic two more times as the Geonosan hands Dooku the plans.  What should have been a subtle nod to the Original Star Wars is turned into an obvious even-a-three-year-old-will-get-it moment.  So Nichols has eliminated the Death Star scenes except for that first moment, and he has even changed the subtitle translating the Geonosan’s dialogue to make the Death Star connection a little less obvious.  This is very clever, and I loved it.

In addition to small tweaks to scenes like those, Nichols also makes some bold changes to the overall structure of the narrative.  Once again, let me give two examples.  First, Nichols almost completely eliminates the story of Obi-Wan’s efforts to track down the bullet used to kill the shapeshifter assassin Zam (that eventually leads him to the clones on Kamino).  While this means some cool moments are lost (such as the scene with Yoda and the younglings, which gave us the type of glimpse of Jedi life and customs that I wish we’d seen a lot more of in the prequels), it really strengthens Obi-Wan’s character because, let’s face it, in the original version he demonstrates the investigative skills of a toddler (and in fact has to have a young kid tell him to go look for the missing planet — I mean, DUH!!).  Instead, Nichols tweaks Zam’s death scene to have her say “Kamino System,” thus sending Obi-Wan right to the planet of the Cloners, and preventing the audience from having to sit through the ridiculous scene with his American Graffiti diner-owing alien buddy.  (I should also point out that Nichols’ manipulation of Zam’s death scene and dialogue is so seamless that I had no idea anything had changed until a few minutes later when I realized that Obi-Wan knew exactly where to go to get some answers.)

Nichols also completely reworks the Anakin-Padme love story.  In theory this love-story should be the center-piece of the whole movie — the emotional through-line that gives weight to all the rest of the galactic goings-on.  But, as anyone who has actually seen the film knows, the love story falls flat because of the wooden acting and horrendous, horrendous dialogue.  When Padme declares, in the Geonosian arena, that she is “truly… deeply” in love with Anakin, it is a ludicrous moment to an audience that has witnessed almost two hours of his whiney, stalkerish behavior.  So how does Nichols address these problems?  First, he tries to shape moments to show us that Padme actually does care for Anakin way before they ever get to Geonosis.  Nichols adds in some deleted scenes (that were among the special features on the Episode II DVD) in which Padme brings Anakin to her parents’ home on Naboo.  Now, the scenes are pretty bad, but the idea is that these moments demonstrate that Padme does have some stirrings of feelings for Anakin (why else would she bring him to meet her parents?) without her having to actually DECLARE her feelings with bad Lucas dialogue.  

Then, Nichols totally re-works the scene where Anakin and Padme kiss by the lake on Naboo.  Nichols cuts almost all of Anakin’s terrible, terrible dialogue (you know, like his whole “I don’t like sand” monologue).  Now the scene is carried more on the weight of the silent looks between the two characters, the lush scenery, and John William’s beautiful score.  But I haven’t gotten to the biggest change.  In the original version of Episode II, they kiss, but Padme breaks it off and says they can’t continue.  (This is followed by several more tedious scenes in which the two of them discuss the impossibility of carrying on a love-affair in secret.)  But in Nichols’ version, he ends the scene with their kiss — WITHOUT PADME BREAKING THINGS OFF.  Then, he skips all the scenes that follow, and cuts right to the moment after Anakin’s nightmare (one of the biggest laugh-inducing moments in the movie because of Anakin’s over-wrought thrashing about, which has been thankfully excised in this version) when we see that it’s morning, and Anakin is standing on the balcony, and Padme comes out of the house in a nightgown and asks Anakin about the nightmare that she knows he had.  THE CLEAR IMPLICATION IS NOW THAT THE TWO OF THEM SPENT THE NIGHT TOGETHER!  And, for the rest of the movie, they are actually together as a couple!  This puts all of the events of the rest of the film in a different light — and now it makes sense for Padme to declare her love for Anakin in the arena, and it also makes sense for her not to abandon him after he admits to killing all the Sand People — because they’ve been intimate and have already established an emotional connection with one another.  Brilliant.

If there is any mis-step that Nichols makes, it is that I think he was too overzealous in trimming down the action sequences from the first half of the film.  The chase through Coruscant after the second assassination attempt on Padme is significantly cut down, and Obi-Wan’s fight with Jango Fett in the rain on Kamino, and their subsequent battle in an asteroid field, is completely eliminated.  In his commentary track, Nichols makes the case that these action sequences were repetitive and unnecessary, as they did not advance the plot in any way.  Well, that’s true, and that is a failing of the script.  In a truly great film, the action sequences should be inherent to moving the story forward, not just eye candy thrown in to keep the audience excited.  But, that being said, those two action sequences are truly great sequences, I think, and without them the first half of the movie becomes a lot duller.  I would have preferred to see Nichols keep the action, but just trim some of the stupid dialogue (like the silliness about power couplings in the Coruscant chase, and all of Obi-Wan’s complaining about flying from the asteroid field battle) the way he did for the rest of the film.

But, that being said, I still really enjoyed this fan-edit.  As with his re-working of Episode I, Mr. Nichols has done an incredibly professional job.  If you hadn’t seen this film before and I played you this version, you’d never suspect that this wasn’t the official version but instead a fan-edit created on someone’s computer.  Nichols has a keen eye for lifting all the bits that made adult Star Wars fans cringe when they first saw this film, and his savy editing decisions result in much improvement of the pace of the film and our emotional connections to the characters.  I had a great time watching this version, and I look forward to watching it again in the future.  If only there had been more people with the skills of Mr. Nichols actually working with George Lucas on his prequel trilogy!!

Was I too gentle on the staggeringly mediocre Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in my review of the film on Friday?

After reading this extraordinary evisceration of the movie, every single point of which I agree with, I am beginning to think I was!  If you’ve seen the movie, you MUST follow that link.  It is hilarious.

I was pretty forgiving when I saw Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie in theatres for the first time, two summers ago.  Sure, it had its flaws, but nevertheless it was just an enormous amount of fun to see a live-action Transformers movie realized, complete with amazing over-the-top Michael Bay-style mayhem.

Even through my enjoyment, though, it was clear to me that this wouldn’t be a movie that would hold up well upon subsequent viewings.  (And, indeed, when I watched Transformers on DVD last year I was much less captivated that I had been that first time seeing it on the big screen.)  I immediately began to think of Michael Bay’s Transformers as a movie just like Independence Day — a sci-fi action spectacle that was a TON of fun to see in a packed theatre on an enormous screen, but one that would be hobbled, upon repeat viewings, by the simplicity (and often-times stupidity) of its script.

So what did I think of the recently-released sequel, Revenge of the Fallen? Well, to an astonishing degree, it has exactly the same strengths and weaknesses that the first film had.

As in the first film, Bay’s ability to stage enormously complex, epic action sequences filled with intense, visceral robot-on-robot combat is pretty jaw-dropping.  These movies look EXPENSIVE.  There’s no trickery used to hide a limited effects budget.  No, what we get are wall-to-wall chases, explosions, exotic locales, and a staggering array of CGI characters (mostly beating the stuffing out of one another).

Also as in the first film, sadly, there is a lot of annoying, unfunny attempts at comedy that feels like time-wasting to me.  And, as in the first film, I was constantly frustrated by the movie’s unwillingness to allow us to get to know any of the robot characters other than Prime and Bumblebee to any sort of degree.  There are an ENORMOUS number of robots in these films — and it’s a strength of Bay’s that he is unafraid to think BIG — but it’s a terrible shame that I couldn’t tell most of them apart from one another, and even if I could, I didn’t get a chance to know or care about any of them one whit.

Let’s flesh out the above statements a little bit.  (Some minor spoilers ahead.)

There were definitely a lot of things I liked about Revenge of the Fallen.  There were so many robots of so many different shapes and sizes, that it was a lot of fun to keep seeing what new robot would be in the next scene.  I particularly enjoyed getting to see Soundwave this time (who was utilized very well by the story, by the way — very “in character” for Soundwave — and I was THRILLED that he was voiced by Frank Welker, the original voice from the cartoon).  I also really enjoyed seeing Ravage (the Decepticon who takes the form of a jaguar).  I also think the great Tony Todd (Worf’s brother Kurn from Star Trek: The Next Generation) was a terrific choice to voice the Decepticon master, “the Fallen.”

As noted above, the action sequences are plentiful, and they are spectacular.  Optimus Prime gets a lot more time in this film to mix it up with a variety of Decepticons — it was great getting to really see just why he is the Autobots’ greatest warrior.  The fights are bone-crunching and very intense, and the visuals are just gorgeous.

But I was totally confounded by the complete lack of development given to all the rest of the robots (particularly the Autobots).  OK, we get to spend more time with Bumblebee, but he doesn’t really have much to do in the story, other than drive Sam (Shia LeBoeuf) around all the time.  The only other Autobots that get any sort of screen time are two new charcters, two “twins” that are terribly annoying, not to mention being horribly offensive, lowest-common-denominator African-American “ghetto” stereotypes.  Just terrible.  We get no time at all with the rest of the Autobots.  C’mon!  I wanted a LOT more time spent with Prime’s core “command team” — Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, etc.  Why couldn’t some of THOSE guys have been the ones to accompany Sam, Mikaela (Megan Fox), etc. on their adventure?  How could we not get even a brief scene to show those Autobots’ reactions to Prime getting taken out in the middle of the film?  That’s a failure of storytelling, and very disappointing.  I was really hoping that, in the sequel, these characters (who were so central in the original cartoon) would get some attention.

Speaking of failures of storytelling, as with the original (and as with almost all of the big-budget films that have been released this summer) where this film falls down is with the script.  Oh, there’s plenty of story, don’t get me wrong.  It’s just that none of it makes a lick of sense if you stop to think about it even for a moment.  The whole idea of the Fallen having landed on Earth — the SAME PLANET where the all-important Allspark landed in the first movie — is an astounding (and ridiculous) coincidence.  Further stretching my disbelief:  Sam just happened to never notice an enormous shard of the Allspark in his sweater for the past TWO YEARS??  The Fallen hid their enormous sun-eating machine right in the center of one of the Egyptian pyramids?  (Haven’t, you know, one or two archaeologists taken a look at those pyramids over the years??)  If Energon can be created by a machine, then why go to all the trouble of finding the one from thousands of years ago — why don’t the Autobots or Decepticons just build another machine?  If the original Primes all sacrificed themselves, thousands of years ago, to defeat the “evil” Prime (the Fallen), then where did Optimus Prime come from?  Just why can only one Prime defeat another?  Just when did the elderly robot Jetfire get to Earth, and what the heck has he been doing all of this time?  (How did he wind up in a museum, anyways???)  I could go on and on.

In the end, the movie doesn’t really have any soul.  The action is amazing, sure.  And the filmmakers do have the right idea about taking the action and intensity up a few notches here in the sequel, and trying to push our heroes into a more desperate place.  But because we haven’t been given a chance to get to know or invest in any of the characters, those moments feel hollow — because we don’t really care!  There’s no emotion when robot x gets taken out, because if one can even tell which robot that is (often an impossibility), then it doesn’t really matter because one don’t have any emotional attachment anyways.

As I said at the beginning, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has, down the line, almost exactly the same strengths and weaknesses as its predecessor.  It’s just that I’m much less forgiving this time around.  A sequel has to improve on the original — otherwise what’s the point?

I still really love the Transformers — I have ever since I was a kid.  Despite the silliness of the very concept, and of so much of the original cartoon series (when seen through adult eyes), I really do believe that the right people could make an awesome live-action Transformers movie, one that is fun and exciting as well as emotionally engaging.  I just haven’t seen it yet.

The Color Purple, released in 1985, finds director Steven Spielberg at an interesting point in his career.  After having directed the first two Indiana Jones films as well at E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial in the early eighties, Spielberg apparently had a desire to move towards more weighty, dramatic material.  But his “serious” films of the late eighties (The Color Purple, along with Empire of the Sun and Always) didn’t meet with an enormous amount of critical acclaim (compared to his successes in the nineties with films such as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan).  But, in college, I decided I wanted to take a look at those “middle period” Spielberg films, and I was quite pleasantly surprised by their quality.  It’s been a while since I’ve last seen those films, though, so when I spotted The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun in the discount DVD bin at my local Newbury Comics, I snatched them both up.

I haven’t had a chance to get to Empire of the Sun yet, but my wife and I watched The Color Purple last month.  It wasn’t quite as good as I had remembered it, but I still think it’s a better film than people tend to think.

Adapted from the novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple tells the life story of an African American woman, Celie.  Growing up in turn-of-the-century Georgia, the poor girl struggles through hardship after hardship.  She is raped by her father as a young girl, and gives birth to two children who he takes from her.  She is married off to a cruel local farmer (Danny Glover), who beats her and forcibly separates her from her beloved sister, Nettie.  Later in life she forms an unexpected friendship with her husband’s mistress, the vivacious singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), who sets Celie on a path towards finally coming out of her shell and finding some happiness for herself.

The Color Purple is notable for some terrific performances from some well-known actors who, looking back on the film now, are unbelievably young here.  Whoopie Goldberg, in one of her very first screen appearances, plays Celie, and she is fantastic — soulful and full of life, even though she has very little dialogue in the film.  Whoopie is a talented comedian, but I have found that I’ve always preferred her in straight dramatic roles, and this is no exception.  Danny Glover doesn’t often play the “bad guy” in films, but he does a great job here as the monstrous Albert.  He cuts quite a menacing figure.  Oprah Winfrey appears, also in one of her first screen appearances, as the vivacious and strong-willed Sofia.  Her performance is a little over the top, but it’s hard to complain because she energizes every scene that she’s in.  It’s also fun to see a very-skinny Laurence Fishburne (credited here, as he was in many of his early film roles, as Larry Fishburne) in a small role as a musician.  I must also compliment the two young actresses, Desreta Jackson and Akosua Busia, who play the young versions of Celie and Nettie, respectively, in the early portions of the movie.

Where the film stumbles is its tone.  Most of Spielberg’s films, even his most deadly serious ones, incorporate humor to some degree.  When done successfully, those moments can bring a much-needed lightness and release of tension to the proceedings.  Here, though, the shifts from tragedy to comedy are somewhat jarring.  It’s hard to laugh, for instance, at Albert’s bumbling attempts to find all of his nice clothing (in preparation for a date with his mistress, Shug) after having watched him be terribly cruel to Celie in scene after scene.  These tonal shifts aren’t helped by the on-the-nose score by Quincy Jones, whose music screams “this is FUNNY!” or “this is SERIOUS!” in a rather intrusive way through much of the film.

There is also a lot of over-simplification, in the story and in its execution.  When one of Albert’s kids throws a rock at Celie’s head, she touches her wound and then stumbles, leaving a movie-perfect red hand-print in the snow.  After moving in with Albert, she discovers the ridiculously over-the-top filthy state of his kitchen, and undertakes a Cinderella-esque cleaning.  (Of course, once she’s done, Albert comes in and plops his filthy boots up on the clean table.)  There’s a moment towards the end of the film, when we’re meant to see that Albert’s home has once again become terribly run down — and as the camera pans across, one of the window shutters falls down, right on cue.  I found these sorts of things to be silly and laugh-inducing — surely not the intended reaction.  There’s also a scene, late in the film, in which dramatic events at a dinner table snap Sophia out of the terrible state into which she has fallen.  (After a terrible tragedy results in her beating and imprisonment for eight years, when she emerges it is as a withdrawn shadow of her formerly high-spirited self.)  Something happens (which I won’t spoil here) at this dinner scene that brings her back to herself.  This should be a dramatic, emotional moment.  But the scene is played in such an over-simplified way, in which one minute Sophia is practically a vegetable and then — snap! — the next minute she’s back to her old, chatty self, that it becomes silly and takes the dramatic air out of the moment.

In the end, I wouldn’t list The Color Purple as one of Mr. Spielberg’s greatest works.  But it remains a solid, interesting film, and worth your while, particularly if you’re a fan of Spielberg as I am.