Movie Review: Star Trek

This movie is a modern rethinking of the classic cancelled television series which spawned half a dozen movies and several spin-off shows and movies. Here we go. I cannot claim to be a serious Star Trek fan. I've seen some of the shows, but only just finished watching the last couple movies (Next Generation) a couple months ago.

Gains: +10
Let's start with the strongest gain and work our way down. In a universe where nearly anything is possible providing the writers are creative enough, I could not be sure what to expect. What I found was a plot worthy of being called genious. With the sheer amount of lore Star Trek has accumulated, keeping some sense of linear plot while rewriting the history was a monumental task. Without spoiling anything, let me just say that the plot gives ample reason for changing old characters into more modern ones. Instead of rewriting history, they took the opportunity to write the rewriting into the plot. Genius. The plot device is brilliantly conceived, has Star Trek lore precedent, and is well developed, and full of suspensful action.

The writing should win awards. Characters had lines that were exactly the same as the original cast of the TV show and movies, but these were woven into a more complex element of character development. Only once did a line feel cheesy. Just once. That's amazing to me for this series.

The acting is perfect. Characters showed elements of their old-time counterparts, though ones who've made different choices. Delivery of well known lines was spot on. This is the first time I've enjoyed watching Eric Bana in any role. Good for him. I didn't recognize him until his name flashed in the credits at the end.

The sound effects were great. I heard many of the old sounds (ex. the bridge sound of the original TV series). This is worth mention.

The camera work gets a point for awesomeness. Taking a page from Serenity, this movie's special effects are built around giving the illusion of reality. The camera will be viewing the action and zoom in or pan out and be out of focus, then bring the action into focus--thus giving the illusion of actually being a film camera. Brilliant. One particular scene literally made my draw drop. Let me tell you, space action never looked so beautiful.

Losses: -2
Uhura has one cheesy line that completely threw me out of the movie for a second. One character, Scottie's companion, seemed more artifical contrivance than anything else. It had no basis in the plot for any reason other than to confuse me.

Final Judgement: +8

This movie destroyed my expectations and set the bar really high for the rest of the summer. I'm even going to go see it again, hopefully this weekend. I hear from friends that it's even better the second time around, but they missed the brilliance of the plot the first time. I may have an update after the second viewing to see if I enjoyed it as much as Batman, my only other +8 score.

Marco Rubio

This is a speech from a guy leaving the Florida House of Representatives to run against Charlie Crist for the Republican party nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Trust me. It's worth 7.5 minutes of your time.



Update: Look, ma! No teleprompter!

Thinking about church

I've been thinking a lot about church, trying to process my core reactions to things I see.

Then I found this, which is just about right:



These thoughts I'm experincing feel dangerous and potentially wrong (a specifically ambiguous term - I'm not exactly sure what's wrong). However, the further I delve into these thoughts, the more powerful the Holy Spirit becomes inside me. This seeming incongruence between my entire life perspective about church and what I feel the H.S. telling me - well, let's just say it's awkward.

Summertime...the results

GUESS WHAT? WE LOOKED LIKE AMATUERS!

Go figure, right? It was fun, though. Each group had problems. I know I learned tons. I just hope my grade doesn't suffer. There were so many variables to the performance that actually quantifying anything beyond a participation grade would be unfair.

Hope this works out!

Summertime for Degree Completion Students

Our current class has lots of lab work. We're in a television studio on campus creating our own newscasts. The fun level is high; the learning is fantastic with the hands-on approach.

But we've had one consisent problem. The spring semester ended, and all the lab workstudy students have gone home. Normally the studio is fully staffed for most of the day. However, starting last week, the normal workstudy students are gone for the summer. This means checking out the equipment we need for a filming project is nearly impossible, given that the point of the DC program is that we need to study on our own time because we have daytime jobs.

Also, the lab is closed in the evening. So we had 11 of the 14 members of my class show up to work in a lab, and we were on the schedule to be there from 7p to 9p, but no one was there to unlock the rooms we needed. Nobody had our teacher's home number, and security would not come unlock it without our teacher's permission. So we hacked the lab computer (it was unlocked) and found his phone number and called him at home. He called security, who then let us in.

It's just been frustrating not having someone there to answer our questions. I've heard we're the first DC class to do these lab projects. It's a great idea. But when the teacher forgot to factor in the end of the semester workstudy program (and you could see the shock on his face when the implications hit him last week), the "out of our control" elements wreaked havoc with our ability to prepare.

So tonight's lab work will be interesting, considering the lack of assistance we have been able to receive. I began meditating on one of my mottos - what comes, comes. And also a school philosophy I have - grades are like bears; all I have to do is run a little faster than the other students to avoid getting eaten.

:)

PS. And to top it off, our teacher has been really busy outside of class with his daughter getting married. I don't blame or condemn him for something like this. The entire experience is just a nexus of many issues outside of class arrayed against us as students.

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I have seen several movies which I have not reviewed, mostly because most of my writing is for my classwork. However, now and throughout the summer, I will try to blog all the movies I will watch in the theater, which is a lot.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the prequel to the X-Men movies, covering some of the flashbacks Wolverine has in that trilogy.

Gains: +5
You basically get what you expect from this movie - lots of action, fighting, metal claws, war, intrigue, super powers. The movie delivers lots of great action sequences. The main characters are layered, sometimes even breaking stereotype roles. The acting is solid, even brilliant at times. The interplay and relationship between Wolverine and Sabertooth is worth watching.

The storyline is intriguing. The plot, when measured as a tragedy, is fantastic.

I need to add a point for the opening sequence alone, after the "kid" scene. It shows Wolverine and Sabertooth's participation in several different wars in a montage sequence - a powerful piece of cinematography.

Losses: -1
Not to be too picky, but the claws often looked fake. Between that and the lack of friction when they cut things (never requiring him to use muscles or meet any friction resistance) definitly took something out of the movie. It interrupted suspension of disbelief a couple times.

I'm not going to take any points away for violence. You should know that it's violent, though fantasy, bloodless violence. Even with giant claws of all types piercing bodies, slashing, and just killing in general, no characters bled much. There was no gore. This ends as a wash in my book. It breaks even, and I don't really mind this kind of violence, but it's there.

Final Judgement: +4

I feel this score is a point too high. The answer for why lies in the case of expectations. If you expect a solid comic book action flick, it will meet your expectations. If you expect much else, you'll be disappointed. I was the former.

If I have high expectations, a movie has greater scoring opportunity. However, it will suffer a more severe penalty if it fails to meet the hype. This movie was exactly what I expected.

Cohort Rep

So, our class Cohort 41C has a position for representative - basically, the front person for our little group who acts as the student liaison between the faculty and the cohort. Our original rep has dropped out. So they asked for new applications to be submitted.

After a long and arduous process in which I filled out a paper requesting consideration for the position, I got the job! They were so wow'ed by my qualifications and experience that they picked me. (Or maybe I was the only applicant.)

When absences and tardies need to fearlessly recorded, I am there. When the cohort cries out in need of a contact list, I am there. I am the cohort rep.

PS. Also, there is a 10% tuition discount!