To Boldly Go (Split Infinitive)

I went to see the much raved about new Trek film last night with a group of friends, not sure exactly what to expect (expect that quite probably some villain was about to annihilate the universe again).

The Trek franchise has had its ups (Wrath of Khan) and downs (Insurrection, Nemesis) but it seems that JJ Abrams & Co. were looking to do a serious 'reboot' of the franchise. Not just your standard re-boot, but a whole new imagining, quite possibly a new parallel universe that walks next to the original. Like not just rebooting your computer but going to a whole new OS.

It was fun, but I doubt it will end up in my DVD library. To me it seemed more like a "What If..?" scenario akin to the Star Wars Infinities comic book line. Fun to ponder but not 'canon.' And I'm not a Trekkie or a Trekker.

The acting was mostly good, though I never connected with Chris Pine as Kirk. Shattner defined that character, but Pine seemed to go his own route. Spock was close, but Nimoy's Spock could make a sideways sly remark while maintaining a straight face. Zachary Quinto seemed to have just the edge of a smile in his delivery. Rather than bounce back and forth between IMDB and here to get all the actors names right, I'll just bounce through the characters and my reactions:

Pike - great
Bones - perfection
Uhura - eh, not so much... seriously were her heightened hearing abilities part of the original storyline?
Sulu - awesome. Delivery not as good as George Takei, but I actually rooted for Sulu.
Checkov - take him or leave him.... though the locking on Kirk/Sulu to transport scene was cool
Scotty - to my shame I forgot about Scotty until I thought, why is there a Scottish dude in the middle of nowhe...oh yeah
Sarek - meh
Spocks mom - seriously? look...it's Winona Ryder...so all I can think is "Heathers", "Edward Scissorhands", "Beetlejuice" & shoplifting

Here's the thing: what took the original actors seasons to develop seemed to be already there in this film - so instead of 'jump the shark' can we call this 'grow the chia'? It was odd because what took presumably years to forge on the series was taken for granted here - lots of nods and winks at the fanbase... you know... like sticking Boba Fett into the "cut " Jabba scene for the Special Edition of Star Wars. thankfully most of these were more subtle.

I think the best thing that could happen with this movie is that a very skilled fan editor re-imagines the re-imagining and is able to change this film into a post-original series flick about James Tiberias Kirk's grandson.
At least put the theme song in the opening credits lads, not slapped on at the end!
Sure a lot would need to be chopped and some careful audio editing would need to be done... perhaps even the ability to graft on another letter to the hull of the enterprise... NCC 1701-K. Who knows? just something that allows it to coexist within the mythos of the original Trek.

It was fun, but it was kind of like movie-karaoke - some fairly talented people trying to pull of a facsimile of the original.

Oh and by the way... if they're now going 'where no one has gone before' - who are they meeting out there where no one is??? Just say 'man' - we understand it stands for huMANkind.

To go boldly where no man has gone before - doesn't have that same ring, but is better grammar...

or are we dancer?

Every now and then I buy a new CD to expand my library. Often this is based on one song I heard on the radio, a Youtube link..whatever. Rarely do I find a CD that I love the entirety of having only heard one song prior to purchase.

here are a few recent ones:

I-Empire by Angels & Airwaves

The Now and Not Yet by Jeremy Riddle - though to be fair I had Jeremy's last CD and loved it... so

and now Day & Age by The Killers

I bought this disc because I love, love, love the song "All These Things That I've Done" from their previous album. I had hoped to find just one more like it on the CD. Wow was I surprised.

The reasons I love this disc/album are:
1.) overall 80's vibe - you just can't go wrong with 80's vibe
- there are hints and smatterings of ELO, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Cars, Peter Gabriel, Blondie... maybe it's because frontman & main lyricist Brandon Flowers is also the keyboard player. This just naturally lends itself to loving 80's music with its synth rich, synth driven, lush, multi layered, anthem singalong songs. And the Killers pull this off without sounding retro - this is as fresh as tomorrow. yeah. that's it.

oh, and Flowers has said he was influenced by the Pet Shop Boys - so, one more point in the "I-knew-I-liked-this" category

b.) diversty. I love how the straight ahead rock songs sit nicely next to the pop songs, which feel at home with the funk swagger tunes (Joy Ride will remind you immediately of Blondie's "Rapture") and then comes the brooding Cure-like "Good Night, Travel Well'.

I'd highly recommend getting the deluxe version through iTunes with 2 bonus tracks.

There are a few mild profanities... well, better said, the word "damn" is used once appropriately and once out of context, but otherwise it's a brilliant album.

[VIDEO for "human"]


yeah I don't totally get the chorus, but I still really like it - and the rest of the album.

oh and one last thing... Flowers voice makes me think he could have so easily been a famous singer in the 1920's - 1930's. It just adds to the overall charm of the band...