What's keeping me out of the theatre....

I already know that this new movie will NOT be my version of Trek, it's gone too far afield, but by the same token I'm not able or ready to judge whether or not it is a good or bad movie, or just how opposed to this new direction I will be unless I see it. It will be something different, not MY Star Trek. But to able to argue against points in the movie can only be strengthened by seeing it, because someone is always going to come back and say to you, "But you never saw it, so how can you judge?" I suppose that makes it a Catch 22 in a way.

 

Some good performances in "Court Martial" - how can you not love Elisah Cook, Jr. - and good speeches written for his character. The whole thing is wrapped around a preposterous mystery, though, and some real howlers where basic sci/tech is concerned - ranging from the infamous "raised to the first power" to complete ignorance of how computers work.

 

So what? If one knows that one will hate it - and it's entirely possible for someone like Warped9 to know that without seeing it - "strengthening the argument" is really insufficient reason to sit through it. There's nothing to be won or lost in this argument, after all - persuading Warped9 to like the movie more or his persuading someone else to like it less will not affect future Trek productions one whit. To think otherwise is to vastly overestimate our influence.

 

Who told you what you MUST do to be here?

 

I'd believe that of most of the anti-Abrams crowd who kick up a fuss in the Trek XI forum - the louder they are, the more likely they are to be there opening night - but I don't think it's true of Warped9. You can take him at his word.

 

If you can post whatever you want, then so can Warped9, without having his own opinion slammed. Don't be a hypocrite.

His post was very eloquent, and well-thought out. You disagree with what he said, and that's fine. But this is a public forum, where everyone on the net can post what they like, within the bounds of common sense and decency. There was nothing in his post that attacked anyone. He has the same right to express his views as you do.

 

I'll only see it as a download. My hard earned cash is too little and too precious to throw away.

 

Hello BolianAdmiral... I looked at your avatar and for some reason I suddenly had such a 1979 flashback!

'Moskau, Moskau, wirf die Gläser an die Wand,
Rußland ist ein schönes Land, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho! Hej!
Moskau, Moskau, deine Seele ist so groß,
Nachts da ist der Teufel los, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Hej!'

I know, it's pretty embarrassing, pathetic even... and COMPLETELY off-topic (which is not a bad thing, watching people arguing over f*cking nothing ONCE AGAIN)

 

Okay, I was half right...

 

I have the right to point out that it's the same thing he posts all the time.

My opinion gets slammed plenty. No hypocrisy is involved.

I am a Star Trek fan. I have been all my life. On the other hand I hate Babylon 5. To this day, I haven't posted on a B5 BBS, because I know it would serve no other purpose than to piss off B5 fans. Frankly I don't find that very interesting.

 

Why can't all exchanges over this film be this civil and rational?

I fully plan to see this movie opening weekend--probably on a Sunday matinee as my job as high school teacher will keep me from seeing it Friday during the day and my job as university instructor will keep me from seeing it on Saturday (I'm not sure I want to see it in the evening since, if the film attracts enough teenagers, I'll spend a good portion of it seething that they won't shut the fuck up--also, I'm cheap and even a matinee ticket all but requires a second mortgage these days).

Having said that, I'm on record as being somewhat pessimistic about the whole thing: I'm not thrilled with most of the new production design and I'm more than a little amused at how Abrams and company have had to alter the Trek tmeline so thoroughly, all for the purpose--it seems--of remaking the studious, duty-bound young Kirk of TOS (and "Shore Leave" and "WNMHGB" establish this pretty well even if TWoK undercuts it somewhat*) into a WB-type bad boy rebel. But I'm still burning with enough curiosity--as well as a tiny ember of good old fashioned Trekkie** hope--to admit that, yeah, May 8th can't get here fast enough.

*Of course, TWoK would also have us believe that the man who saw family phasered to oblivion on Tarsus IV, found his brother's corpse on Deneva, condemned the most apparently genuine love of his life to die under the wheels of a milk truck and condemned his best friend (I take it that his friendship with Spock was still in the early stages here) to die under a pile of rocks on Delta Vega "never ha[d] faced death." I love that movie but already.

**Let the record show I had no such hope for Nemesis and I waited until that was in second run before seeing it. Had there been no second run theatre in town--it's since shut down--I would just as easily have waited for the DVD release. I did have such hope for TFF and that ended badly, very badly indeed. So I'll say this with confidence: there's virtually no way this movie can suck as hard as those two--or INS, GEN, TVH and yes, even TSFS and TUC (and those last two I adored when I originally saw them, at ages 13 and 21 respectively. They've aged almost as badly as I have ).

 

^^ And perhaps that's why he doesn't like my posts. Because his are often the same as well.

 

No one is impinging on your right to say that.

 

Warped9, I'm disappointed you won't be in the theater.

I had a little trick planned with the bottom of a bucket of popcorn.

Joe, with butter

 

At the bottom? Joe, I'd always pegged you as better endowed than that. Now I have to revise my fantasies...

 

Let's get something out of the way. Certainly not everything new sucks.

- Casino Royale re-energized the Bond franchise. Thank God! Even if Quantum Of Solace was so-so.
- Peter Jackson's King Kong nicely builds upon the original. The original is a classic and good in its own right, but I think the new one is a better film overall.
- Batman has been re-energized surperbly with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
- I liked Watchmen and in some respects I think it works better as a film because it moves and brings things to life. I thought it well done.
- The '78 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and the '80s version of The Fly were wonderful remakes.

- On the flip side the new The Day The Earth Stood Still was a total piece of shit. Yeesh!

 

Gotta disagree re:Watchmen (the comic is a solid A, the movie barely merits a B-, imao) but I see your point. At the risk of stirring up a whole nother pot of unrest, I'd say NuBSG--weak ending and all--was a vast improvement over the original.

On another note, I've often been amazed at how Bond and Batman are elastic enough to accomodate a seemingly infinite range of mutually exclusive interpretations. Sometimes, I wish the same were true of Trek--well, now I guess it will be (provided this film is a success).

Why do I hear Zoe Saldana saying "be careful what you wish for..."?

 

I don't think you'll have too long to wait, either... if you're hooked up with torrents, that is.


Btw, I liked your take on Court Martial. When I was a kid, I didn't care for it... as an adult, I see the complexity that you noted. The writing for this episode was first rate and I believe most of the actors did a great job with the material they were given. My only gripe, though small, is Finney's insufferable illogic. I know he was torqued in the head, but frankly to get that far in Starfleet, you'd have to have much more of your act together. Camping out on board was a big mistake. I'd have thought he would have escaped to the surface somehow. We've seen plenty of times where someone makes unauthorized use of the transporter... or perhaps he could have feined a head injury that could account for his delirium, a side effect of the ion storm turbulence. In any case... an A+ intellectual TOS episode.

 

Ever seen a half-can of Budweiser?

Make it smell like vinegar, and it's like I'm right there.

Joe, and sweet