Invictus (2009)

Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) has just been elected the President of South Africa and he struggles to unite the country torn apart by years of apartheid.   As he watches a Rugby game between the Springboks, the South African team, and the English team and noticed that all the whites cheered for the Springboks and all the blacks cheered for the English team.  Hilarity ensues as Mandela invites Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the captain of the Springboks, to tea and unveils his plan to unite the country, by having the Springboks win the Rugby World Cup being held in Johannesburg.

Trivia: Before production began, Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary made a trip to South Africa to get Nelson Mandela’s blessing for the film. According to McCreary, Freeman started off by saying, “Madiba, we’ve been working a long time on this other project, but we’ve just read something that we think might get to the core of who you are…” Before he had finished, Madiba said, “Ah, the World Cup.” For McCreary, that was “when I knew we were heading in the right direction.”  Nelson Mandela himself has said that only Morgan Freeman could portray him. And so Freeman was the first actor cast.  The word “invictus” is Latin for “invincible.” It is also the name of a short poem written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley, a British poet. The poem was written while Henley was in hospital having to have his stricken foot amputated. Mandela is heard saying lines from the poem.  Matt Damon made a visit to Francois Pienaar’s home to ask Pienaar for assistance in preparing for his role. When Damon got to his house, Pienaar answered the door and for a few minutes they simply looked up at each other. Then Damon said “I look much bigger on camera.” This broke the tension, and Pienaar prepared a gourmet dinner for Damon. Pienaar later claims he was impressed by Damon: “He’s a great bloke. I was struck by his humility and his wicked sense of humor. He wanted to learn everything he could about me, my philosophy as a captain and what it was like for us in 1995. We also chatted about the game of rugby, what happens in training and about the technical aspects. We had a lot of fun.”

Morgan Freeman is amazing.  Every time I see him I like him.  This time is no exception.  The only real problem I have with Freeman is that it seems he always plays himself.  He does a good job of it, but he usually does.  This time he didn’t.  He really turned it on and became Mandela.  Matt Damon put in a good performance as Pienaar too.   It is around this time of year we start talking Oscars and since this year there will be ten Best Picture Nominees it seems like a given that Invictus will be in the hunt.

Whip It (2009)

Whip It

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives in Bodeen, Texas.  Her mother Brooke (Marsha Gay Harden) wants her daughter to folow in her footsteps as a beauty pageant queen.  Bliss has other ideas.  On a trip to Austin, Bliss sees an advertisement for a roller derby league and is intrigued.  She sneaks out and drives to Austin with her friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat), and catches the bout.  When she learns that there will be auditions she sees her chance and she makes the team.  Hilarity ensues as Bliss joins Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell), Rosa Sparks (Eve) and Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore) of the Hurl Scouts and becomes Babe Ruthless at night while still being Bliss during the day.

Trivia:  “Whip It” was written by Shauna Cross, a former Roller Derby skater with the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Cross skated under the name Maggie Mayhem with a team of rouge cops called the Sirens. Many of the teams, skaters, names and plot lines were inspired by Cross’ time with the Derby Dolls.  The fictional TXRD team ‘Hurl Scouts’ were based on the ‘Tough Cookies’ from Los Angeles: both teams share a green uniform and theme based on the Girl Scouts of America.  Ellen Page dropped out of Drag Me to Hell to be in this film.  The Manson Sisters were played by Rachel Piplica and Kristen Adolfi – better known as Iron Maiven and Krissy Krash of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Ironically, the pair skated for the Hurl Scouts in the film and in real life skate for the Tough Cookies, the team on which the Scouts were based.  The track used in the movie was built and lent to be used in the movie by a banked track roller derby league from Oklahoma City called Red Dirt Rebellion Rollergirls.

This is Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut and she did a good job.  It will never be confused as an Oscar contender or anything but it is a very good movie.  I don’t claim to be an expert at roller derby at all but I do have a friend who is on the Victory Dolls out of Oklahoma City so I have been to a real roller derby bout.   I had a lot of fun.  I highly recommend that if you have a team in your area to go out and check it out.  You will not be disappointed.  Anyway back to the movie.   Ellen Page is Bliss.  I love Ellen Page.  I was first exposed to her acting in Hard Candy and then she made Juno which garnered her an Oscar nomination.   She does a wonderful job being Bliss, who starts out pretty innocent and really comes into her own over the movie.  Juliette Lewis does a good job playing Iron Maven and is the “bad guy” of the movie.   Drew Barrymore looks like she is really having fun out on the track.  I highly recomend this one.

District 9 (2009)

District 9

In 1990, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed “The Prawns,” appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The Prawns are segregated and not welcome in many place around the city.  The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and live in squalor. District 9 is rife with crime and ruled by the Nigerians who exploit the Prawns.  In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population and move them away from the city.  Hilarity ensues when Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is placed in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his two new Prawn friends.

Trivia:  As part of the marketing campaign in North America, posters were put up in major cities on bus stops, the sides of buildings, etc. designating areas that were restricted for humans only, with a number to call (866.666.6001) in order to report non-humans. The title of the film was generally not included, although the URL address for the film’s official website was.  Star Sharlto Copley had not acted before and had no intention of pursuing an acting career.  He stumbled into the leading role as Neill Blomkamp placed him on-camera during the short film.  Sharlto Copley ad-libbed all his lines.  All of the “prawns” in the film are CGI with the sole exception of the ones on the operating table in the medical lab.  The mutilated animal carcasses in the background of many scenes were real and with only a few exceptions, were already in the real slums and shacks used for the filming.  All the shacks in District 9 were actual shacks that exists in a section of Johannesburg which were to be evacuated and the residents moved to better government housing, paralleling the events in the film. Also paralleling, the residents had not actually been moved out before filming began. The only shack that was created solely for filming was Christopher Johnson’s shack.  The idea of the prawns being obsessed with cat food came from two inspirations. In impoverished areas of Johannesburg, Neill Blomkamp would see people selling cheese poofs and other snack foods out of large 3-foot tall bags and wanted the aliens to have a similar cheap food. The decision to make them cat food came from one of the producers who used canned cat food to bait hooks when fishing for prawns in Vancouver.  Around six different endings were created during filming.

Going into this film I really had no idea what it was about.  I knew there were aliens but I didn’t know any part of the story.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It is shot in a documentary style following Wikus as he is put in charge of the evictions.  Some is shown in news documentary style and some in normal style until we get into the movie proper.  It is hard to describe much without giving major plot points away.  I have heard in different places that this is a condemnation of South African Apartheid.  This may just be based on the fact that it happens in Johannesburg, South Africa and the discrimination shown toward the Prawns by the citizens of the city.  I am not sure that was what the director intended.  There is discrimination but I didn’t connect it to Apartheid because it looked like it could have happened like that anywhere.  As for the Prawns themselves, the CGI effects were very good and got to the point where you believed they were real and really got into the story, especially Christopher Johnson, the main Prawn in the story.  At first you get the feeling he is a bad guy, but over the story you come around and end up rooting for him which says a lot for a completely CGI character.  Copley also does a fantastic job.  It is so nice to watch an unknown actor work.  This wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good with a known actor.  It would have taken away some of the realness you feel as you watch.

Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Inglorious Basterds

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and his group of Jewish Americans wage a guerrilla war against the Nazis.  As Lt. Raine says, “You see, we’re in the business of killin’ Nazis, and boy, business is boomin’.”  Hilarity ensues as Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), a Nazi war hero convinces Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) the head of the Nazi propaganda machine to move the premier of his new movie to a small theater owned by Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) a Jewish girl in hiding.  The premier would be attended by the top of the Nazi War Machine which attracted the attention of the Basterds.

Trivia: Quentin Tarantino started writing this movie before Kill Bill: Vol. 1 but could not decide on a good ending and decide to put it on hold to do Kill Bill with Uma Thurman, a project he had been mentally preparing since Pulp Fiction.  Quentin Tarantino intended for this to be as much a war film as a spaghetti western, and considered titling the movie “Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France”. He gave that title instead to the first chapter of the film.  Eli Roth’s character, Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, is part of the Tarantino-verse, sharing the last name of the film producer character, Lee Donowitz, in the Tarantino-written True Romance. The Lee Donowitz character also produced a war film “Comin’ Home in a Body Bag”.  On German advertisement materials, all swastikas were removed or covered up as it was unclear to the distributor if they violated German law (which prohibits the exhibition of Nazi symbols except for purposes such as historical accuracy).  Eli Roth directed the film-within-the-film, “Nation’s Pride”. Quentin Tarantino asked Roth to direct the short, and Roth requested his brother Gabriel join him to direct behind a second camera, which Tarantino agreed to. In two days the brothers got 130 camera setups, and Tarantino was so pleased he gave Roth a third day that he was originally planning to shoot with actor Daniel Brühl. Roth got 50 more setups the third day, much to Tarantino’s delight. The total running time of the short is 5:30, and was always intended to feel like pieces of a longer film, not a coherent short.

One thing you learn about Quentin Tarantino is that he loves to shoot movies as homages to other style of movies.  Kill Bill was in the style of 70’s Chinese Wuxia (Martial Arts) films.  Deathproof was pure 70’s Gindhouse.  But he also makes the movie his own and he usually does this through dialog.  This movie is not one to buck the trend.  This is Tarantino’s version of a Sergio Leone and his spaghetti westerns.  He uses Leone’s tight full face shots and sweeping vistas, but it is his dialog that really stands out.  Listening to it is like listening to the lyrics of a song.  The words flow and swell and ebb and power through.  Even Pitt’s exaggerated accent plays with a certain lilt.  And speaking of Brad Pitt, from watching the trailer and seeing the title you would think this is a Brad Pitt tour de force.  Not so.  Pitt and the Basterds actually do not have as big a role in the film as I had expected.  We follow Mélanie Laurent and Daniel Brühl just as much as Pitt, and actually a bit more.  Christoph Waltz who plays the Jew Hunter Col. Hans Landa also did a wonderful job.  This was a thoroughly wonderful movie.  I highly recommend it.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Star Trek: Generations

The gala maiden voyage of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) is in full swing with federation media and VIPs Captains James T. Kirk, ret. (William Shatner), and Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), and Commander Pavel Checkov (Walter Koenig) when a distress call from two ships turns into a race to rescue the crew from some kind of energy ribbon. They succeed at saving some of the crew but pay a heavy price when Captain Kirk is killed. Hilarity ensues as we  jump 78 years into the future to meet the crew of the Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and crew have to battle the rogue scientist Soran (Malcolm McDowell) who has become obsessed with the energy ribbon. Captain Picard’s only chance lies with the the help of one man, but he has been dead for 78 years.

Trivia: William Shatner has stated that his line “Who am I to argue with the Captain of the Enterprise?” was the hardest line he ever had to deliver. The horse that William Shatner rides is his, as are the home and farm where the sequence takes place. The redesigned bridge of the Enterprise-D that is used in in this film was inspired by the “alternate-history” bridge of the Enterprise-D from “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Yesterday’s Enterprise”. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner were the only cast members to have custom “colour-top” uniforms (as used in seasons 1-5 of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and later on in “Star Trek: Voyager”) made for use in the film. Jonathan Frakes had to borrow Avery Brooks’ uniform and LeVar Burton had to borrow Colm Meaney’s uniform from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, neither of which fit the actors very well (Frakes had to roll up the sleeves and Burton’s is obviously too big for him.) One of the reasons for destroying the Enterprise-D was that it was designed for the narrow aspect ratio and low resolution of televisions. Destroying the ship allowed the creation of a theater-friendly ship for subsequent movies.

Okay, back to the movies. This review will have a few spoilers in it so beware. This is the transition movie where the original crew bows out and the Next Generation crew takes over the franchise. All in all it was a nice way to cross over. It brings the two captains of the Enterprise, Kirk and Picard together and had a plausible (in Star Trek terms) explanation why Kirk can be there with Picard since their lives are so far apart in the time line. The Enterprise-D suffers from the same problem the Enterprise did in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, namely, the producers all of a sudden had a movie budget to spend instead of a TV budget so they went overboard. It seems the Enterprise-D got ahold of Data’s emotion chip, it wants to be all moody now. Either that or the lights are malfunctioning. There seems to be a lot of shadows and strange lighting we didn’t get in the Tv episodes. The fight with the Klingons and subsequent crash landing of the Saucer section of the Enterprise was totally and completely awesome and still brings a little tear to my eye. Kirk’s death was okay but not very satisfying, especially Shatner’s adlib of the final lines. He said “Oh my.” and later explained it was Kirk’s reaction to eternity and truly going where Kirk had never gone before.  I don’t know, it just felt flat, not something Kirk would say.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

An accident on the Klingon moon Praxis forces the reluctant Klingon Empire into a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite his mistrust of the Klingons after they murdered his son, James Kirk (William Shatner) is forced to escort a Klingon cruiser carrying the Klingon Chancellor to Earth for the meetings. During the voyage hilarity ensues as the Klingon cruiser is attacked.  After the Chancellor is murdered by two Starfleet crewmen, Kirk & McCoy (DeForest Kelly) are taken prisoner. Spock (Leonard Nemoy) immediately begins an investigation, while Kirk & McCoy are sentenced to life on Rura Penthe – a deep-frozen asteroid. Spock, meanwhile, has discovered that a Klingon Bird of Prey – one that can fire when cloaked, and under the command of Kingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer).  Is the ship responsible for firing on the Chancellor, and the 2 assassins came from the Enterprise?  Will Kirk and McCoy be able to escape in time to save the federation from full out war?

Trivia:  The subtitle, “The Undiscovered Country,” comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, as do many of General Chang’s quotes. Two of the more obscure lines Chang speaks during the final battle between the Klingons and the Enterprise are “Our revels now have ended…” from “The Tempest” and “The game’s afoot” from “Henry V.”  The welcome speech that Kirk, McCoy, and the others receive on arriving on Rura Penthe is an homage to the speech made by Colonel Saito to the British POW’s in The Bridge on the River Kwai.  The name of the prison planet, Rura Penthe, is a reference to 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. It is the name of the slave labor camp that inspired Captain Nemo’s rage against society and that was the location of his death.  General Chang’s eyepatch has three bolts that go into the skull. They all have the Klingon insignia engraved on them.  Michael Dorn plays Colonel Worf in this film, and Lieutenant Worf in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Colonel Worf is meant to be the grandfather of Lieutenant Worf.   The official Star Trek Chronology suggests this film takes place in the year 2293, or 27 years after the events of the first episodes of the TV series, which the chronology suggests occur in 2266. This is taken from a line by McCoy stating he has served on the Enterprise for 27 years. According to the Chronology, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country therefore takes place about six years after the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and some 22 years after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  In a featurette on the Special Features from the 2-disc DVD, William Shatner, talks about how he was upset with Nicholas Meyer for breaking a promise regarding one of his lines. The line in question was when Kirk says “Let them die” during the scene when he and Spock are talking after the classified briefing. Shatner wanted to say the line, then gesture as if he didn’t mean to say it, and he made Meyer promise to show it on camera. However in the final cut, after Kirk says “Let them die”, it cuts to Spock looking surprised, and only goes back to Kirk, cutting over when Kirk gestures with regret.  For the dinner scene, none of the cast wanted to actually eat the food served to them (which partially consisted of blue-colored squid). Nicholas Meyer then made an offer that anyone who took a bite of the food, he would pay them $20 for every shot of them eating. William Shatner, was the only one who actually took bites, and he did it for 17 shots, meaning Meyer had to pay Shatner $340 to do so.  Shatner later goes on to say he did it to get revenge on Meyer who broke a promise to him concerning the “Let them die” scene.

This is the final movie for the full original cast.  Shatner, Doohan, and Koenig will make it into the next movie but this is it for the rest.  This movie is a lot better then the disaster that was The Final Frontier.  The story is better, the acting is better.  It’s a nice way to end an era.  It is a cool concept that mirrors the end of the cold war with the Klingon Empire slowly dying and the Federation contemplating basically bailing them out.  The conflict comes from the old warriors like Kirk having to come to terms with the new situation.  As a Trek movie, this is one of the better ones.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince (2009)

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

Hilarity ensues as the Dark Lord Voldemort unleashes the Deatheaters on not only the wizarding community, but the muggle world as well.  Meanwhile Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) head back to Hogwarts for their sixth year.  Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) recruits  a new potions teacher Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent).  Harry becomes a star in potions with the help of notes in an old textbook that used to belong to the Half Blood Prince.  Ron gets a girlfriend and Hermione isn’t quite sure if she likes the idea and Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright) get closer.  But all is not well at Hogwarts.  Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has become a Deatheater and has been given his first task.  Dumbledore once again enlists the help of Harry and with him discovers a way to defeat Voldemort, but it will be dangerous task.  Will Dumbledore and Harry complete their quest?  Will Ron make it as Grypffindor Keeper?  Will Ron survive the attention of Lavendar Brown?  Will Harry and Ginny snog?  Will Hermione get to snog anyone?  Tune in on our next installment of As The Wizards Turn.

Trivia:  Helen McCrory had been cast to play Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but had to back out because she was pregnant. She will play Bellatrix’s sister, Narcissa Malfoy in this film.  Hero Fiennes-Tiffin has been cast as Tom Riddle, Age 11, while his uncle, Ralph Fiennes plays Lord Voldemort (formerly Tom Riddle).  Director David Yates says that he hired Hero Fiennes-Tiffin to play the young Voldemort/Tom Riddle because of his resemblance to his uncle Ralph Fiennes but not specifically because he was the actor’s nephew. He liked the dark haunted quality about the young actor.  Over 7000 girls auditioned for the role of Lavender Brown, and read from a scene with Madam Pomfrey, Hermione and Ron. Ironically, Emma Watson recommended Jessie Cave for the role, although Cave hadn’t attended any auditions.

This movie is actually very good.  As a whole I think the series is following the books in that so far each has gotten a little better then the one before.  If you listen to the purists, they will talk about how much was left out of the film from the book.  But this is understandable.  The book was over 800 pages.  One of the things about the Potter books is that they are so full and jam packed with side stories and plot points and are full and rich.  I think this movie did a good job in pulling some of the most important points and actually a few touches that foreshadow the rest of the story.  I also think that it is a good way to get some of the children to start reading.  If they are interested in the movie, encourage them to read the books because there is so much more to the books.  I also like the idea that they are splitting the next book into two movies to be able to include more material.  But anyway back to the movie.  I think the kids did a lot better acting in this one and despite the dark nature of the film, there were scenes that you could tell were fun for the kids to act in (Harry and the Felix Felicis, Ron and Lavendar, Luna Lovegood).  There were many moments in the movie that will give Potterphiles a chuckle, even in this dark movie.  It is really worthy of the series.  So now the wait begins for part 7 and part 8.

The Happening (2008)

The Happening

Hilarity ensues in Central Park.  Everyone in the park stops.  Some get confused.  Some start to walk backwards.  One decides that the best thing to do is stab a hair pin into her neck.  Something moderately scary is happening.  Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), a science teacher, is slightly concerned.  It seems that a neurotoxin has been released that not only turns off a human’s instict of self preservation, but reverses it so they kill themselves instead.  They decide to evacuate New York in an orderly manner with some poeple getting on trains, some on busses.  Oh wait, now Philadelphia has been hit, bummer.  It is spreading around the northeast.  Darn.  No what do they do?  How about a car?  Nope, dead bodies in the road.  How about walking cross country, yeah, that could work.  Secrets are revealed.  Alma Moore (Zooey Deschanel), Elliott’s wife, admits that *gasp* she had dessert with a co-worker and he was *gulp* male!  Will they survive the night?  Will they make it to the uneffected area?  Will we even care?

Trivia:  M. Night Shyamalan wrote the screenplay with Mark Wahlberg specifically in mind for the lead role.  The movie was shot completely in sequence.  Pyrethrins are a neurotoxin derived from the Chrysanthemum plants, specifically those native to Australia. This toxin is commonly found in common organic insecticides to eradicate pests. At one point Elliot talks about primordial bacteria in Australia killing off fishermen. Pyrethrins are highly toxic to bees.  After the students’ hypotheses about the bee disappearance: global warming and atomic/bio/chemical contamination. The nuclear and greenhouse “plants” are symbolic of these theories – literally facing one another in Filbert, PA.  This is the first film by M. Night Shyamalan in which he does not physically appear for a cameo; instead he is the voice of ‘Joey’, who calls Alma a couple times throughout the movie but we never actually see him or learn of his fate.

I knew going in that this wasn’t a good movie.  I heard that from several people I trust so I wasn’t expecting Oscar caliber but it couldn’t be that bad could it?  Why yes, yes it could.  Note to Mr. Shyamalan:  If you want the audience to be emotionally invested in your main characters they need to have emotions.   There is an episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk went through a transporter malfunction that split him in two, one part was all the good aspects of him, the compassion, intelligence, empathy and such and the other was all the bad aspects of him, the aggressiveness, strength, and drive.  It ended up he needed both sides to be able to function as a leader.  In this movie Mark Wahlberg is the good Kirk, and there is no bad Kirk anywhere.  Wahlberg pretty much shows concern and confusion.  I don’t even think he shows fear at any point.  He’s a wimp.  He is indecisive.  You don’t root for him at any point.  This movie also had my girl Zooey Deschanel.  I love her, surely she can give me something to watch.  But alas.  It was like watching a barbie doll.  She sleepwalks through the whole movie.  In fact the only time a character shows any anger or anything besides “woe is me we are all going to die slow painless deaths” ends up getting shot and killed.  20 minutes in (and I am being generous) you don’t care about any of the characters.  It is sad that M. Night Shyamalan peaked on his very first movie.

As a side note.  I get the catagories (Drama, Comedy, Family, etc.) from the internet movie database.  In the case of this movie they are way off.   Let’s see:  Drama – Not much drama to speak of.  A few isolated spots.  Horror – Not scary at all. the villian is invisible, literally, and not in a good can’t see the shark in Jaws kind of way.  Mystery – They can’t even get this right.  They figure  out what is happening 30 minutes in.  The only msytery left is who will die?  And even that isn’t very mysterious.  Sci-Fi – is probably the closest to describing it but even it falls short, or rather the movie falls short of being sci-fi.  Thriller – Please, the defensive driving video I had to watch was more thrilling.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

When a renegade vulcan named Sybok takes three ambassadors hostage it is up to Kirk (William Shatner) and crew to swoop in and save the day, but hilarity ensues as things don’t go quite as planned and Sybok takes over the Enterprise.  His goal?  To find Shaka-Ri, the home of God himself.

Trivia: The name “Shaka-Ri” is a play on words from the original actor asked to play the part of Sybok: Sean Connery.  One of William Shatner’s daughters, Melanie Shatner, appears as the yeoman that holds Kirk’s malfunctioning Captain’s log.  The film’s special effects were not done by ILM because the members of ILM were already working on Ghostbusters II and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This hindered the film’s ending greatly because the ending was to be much longer than Kirk simply being chased by “God.” However, the sequence had to be cut out as a result of awful-looking special effects. The scenes were replaced by more shots of George Murdock’s face, except his eyes glowed.  An entirely new Enterprise bridge, with the single solitary exception of the Turbolift foyers, was built for this film.  Final film voyage of the complete original crew of the USS Enterprise. Although there would be one more film featuring the original cast, the character of Sulu is no longer a member of the Enterprise crew in the next movie, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.  According to George Takei, he originally turned down this film because he did not want to be directed by William Shatner with whom he has had a long standing feud. But Shatner convinced Takei to reprise his role.

This is probably the weakest of any Star Trek movie.  The acting, which was never extraordinary to begin with, was atrocious in this one.  This is the fifth movie and it has been said that the even movies were a lot better then the odd one.  One of the problems is there really isn’t a villian till the end.  Sybok is a religious figure.  He isn’t a bad guy.  Spock is more against him for reveling in emotions as he is from Sybok taking over the Enterprise.  And how better to prove Kirk is a god then to defeat “God”?  Is it a coincidence that Shatner has a writting credit for this movie?  Hmmm?

Fools Rush In (1997)

Fools Rush In

Alex Whitman (Matthew Perry), a New Yorker, is being sent to Las Vegas to oversee the construction of a new bar. There he meets Isabel Fuentes (Salma Hayek) and they share a passionate night together. When Alex wakes up the next morning Isabel is gone but three months later she reappears and announces that she is pregnant. After talking her into letting him meet her family and then marries her that same night. Hilarity ensues as cultures clash. Isabel’s father is not pleased at all. Alex’s parent’s don’t even know, because he didn’t tell them. And yadda yadda so on and so forth, it’s a romantic comedy people, you get the idea.

Trivia: The role of Alex’s (Matthew Perry) father is played by John Bennett Perry, who is actually Matthew Perry’s father. Before the movie was filmed, there was no Arizona/Nevada “border” painted on the highway that spans the Hoover Dam. When it was added for the movie, local officials decided to keep it intact after the filming of the movie. As of September 2005 the border painted in the street is no longer there. The Elvis impersonator in the early wedding scene, Eddie Powers, works in Las Vegas as an Elvis impersonator and does gigs at such chapels as The Silver Bell Wedding Chapel.

Okay, yes, I made a joke about it being a romantic comedy with an easily guessed ending and it is, but it is also very charming and sweet at times. Matthew Perry is very servicable as the romantic goofball. I even had times where I wanted to yell at the screen, “Idiot! Don’t do that, she’s gonna find out.” Salma Hayek, though, is at her most beautiful and most charming in this movie. She is gorgeous. So typical romcom? Yes. Still charming? Absolutely. Worth seeing? Definitely.