Retrospective Collection: Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: Generations

      Legendary captains Kirk and Picard share the screen in the seventh Star Trek film.

      Two weeks ago I kicked off this "Retrospective Collection" thing with The Sandlot, a movie loved by all who know it.  Last week I continued with The Fugitive, a movie loved by all who know it, and also a best picture nominee.  This week I'm doing Star Trek: Generations, a movie loved by some who grew up with it.  Even among Star Trek fans, this movie is not particularly well-liked.  However, I am one who grew up with it and I love it.  And as stated before - we are a movie blog.  We do what we want.

      This movie's single claim to fame that none can deny is that it is actually the only time Picard and Kirk share the screen.  That alone makes this movie Star Trek incarnate, basically.  It also leads to cinema's best old man fight at the end, because the bad guy also has white hair.

      I'm only half joking about Star Trek: Generations being Star Trek incarnate.  It's not the best Star Trek film, but it might represent Star Trek best.  The scope, the purpose, and the dignity of Star Trek are on full display.  The music, similarly to the movie, is not the best music in Star Trek, but it is the most representative.  I'm not sure how else to say it.  The music has dignity.  You can hear the valor of our heroes, and the reality of the danger they face.

      I like the reboot Star Trek movies, and they've been edging closer and closer to this dignity of Star Trek that I'm talking about, but it's still missing from those three new ones, while Generations is simply drooling with it.  Yes.  Drooling with dignity, I said that.  It's an X factor that you can really tell is missing when it's missing.

      Last week I said The Fugitive was special because of its lean toward realism and its subdued thrills.  But perhaps all of that is a product of the era, as Generations feels likewise subdued by today's standards.  It feels like it comes from a time when producers pushed character and story more than action and visual effects.  Hardcore trekkies would give me a lot of crap for saying that, but I don't care.

      I own this movie because my cousin bought it for me for my nineteenth birthday.  Suffice it to say that, for a film lover like myself, my collection is pretty exclusive.  And I'm happy to include this one.

Retrospective Collection: The Fugitive

The Fugitive

      A man on the run must prove his innocence.

      Why does one thriller stand out from another?  What is it about The Fugitive that makes it just as good today as it was twenty-three years ago?  What makes it last?

      I think most thrillers aim to thrill first, and tell a story second.  Turn the tension up to ten and leave it there.  Think the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds.  It never lets up.  I can't really say anything bad about that format.  It can work really really well, and a lot of people enjoy it.

      What makes The Fugitive different, and aids tremendously in its longevity, is the credibility, or believability.  The suspension of disbelief is so far ahead of the action on the screen that you would believe it was based on a true story.  In most thrillers and action movies the suspension of disbelief is riding the action like a surfer riding a wave - right there on the leading edge.  You risk the surfer falling off and everything being very uncool, but if the surfer stays in front it's awesome.  In the case of The Fugitive, the suspension of disbelief is catching some rays on the beach, and just has to move its towel now and then to keep dry.

      It's not that the filmmakers made tame action sequences either.  Everyone remembers the famous set piece where Harrison Ford jumps off the dam.  Therein lies some of the magic.  Watching the movie, you'd swear you'd jump too.

      The credibility is not limited to the action scenes by any means.  The detail in the set design and set decoration is astonishing, yet hardly noticeable.  It's very difficult to tell which are sets and which are actual locations.  The actors never went too far with any lines.  And there were many practical shots that lended credibility like nothing else can.  I don't mean things as simple as real explosions, I mean a real train crash for goodness sake.  Has any other movie done a practical full-size train crash?  This is all not even mentioning the helicopter shots, the shots with dozens of extras, or the fact that the U.S. Marshall's office was clearly actually filmed in a skyscraper in Chicago.  The little things add up very fast in this movie.  By the end of it I can almost remember seeing Richard Kimble on an episode of America's Most Wanted.

      The dialogue is another high point worth mentioning.  There isn't really a single exposition scene in the whole movie, yet by the end you know exactly who did what and why.  And like all good dialogue it makes you believe that these characters had a life before this movie and will continue their life after the movie.  Also, much of the bickering between Tommy Lee Jones' character and his deputies serves the second purpose of easing off of, and offering comedic release from the depressive and downtrodden tone of all the Richard Kimble scenes.  Before the climax of the movie, this depressive feel over Harrison Ford's scenes only lets up once, when he "acts like Mother Theresa" - as Joe Pantoliano's character puts it - and redirects a hospitalized child from observation to surgery, saving the child's life.  For just a moment we see Richard Kimble's ability to help people and the satisfaction he gets from it.  With this scene we want Richard to clear his name so he can help people again.  Without it, he might be a lot like the doctor who framed him, in it for the prestige and the money.

      Rather ironically, the only thing about The Fugitive that is played up is the realism.  And while I can confidently say that this realism makes The Fugitive unique, I can't say that it makes the film special all by itself.  In the end I think what really makes this movie special is the incredible work done by all involved, and the way it comes together so well.  I can name plenty of movies where it is clear that everyone involved believed in the project and had the skills needed, but the pieces don't always come together well.  With The Fugitive it's like it was meant to be.  No smoke and mirrors, no sleight of hand.  Just brilliant filmmaking.

Retrospective Collection: The Sandlot

The Sandlot

      A childhood summer in America put to film.

      It is not at all uncommon for children to be the main characters of a film.  They're typically adventure stories and the children usually get involved in some very adult conflicts.  Most stories told from the perspective of children follow a similar pattern.  It's children vs adults.  Think Home Alone, E.T., Super 8 (J.J. Abrams' love letter to Spielberg films), or the very recent example of Stranger Things.

      The wonderful and unique thing about The Sandlot is that it's about children living through children things.  There are no shady government agencies involved in cover ups, or burglars breaking into a house.  The single greatest source of conflict in the whole movie is the loss of a treasured collectible.  How true to childhood is that?

      It goes further.  There is no alien friend with fantastic powers that you wish you had as a kid.  Benny Rodriguez is the admired older friend that you probably did have as a kid.  The Sandlot is designed to recall every American childhood.

      Strictly speaking, it's not even a narrative picture.  The conflict that stands out (getting the ball back from the beast) doesn't even begin until we're an hour in - and is resolved less than a half hour later.  Sure, it's teased in a couple spots in the narration, but in the meantime we have other experiences laid out before us that are relatable to every American raised at home.  What did you do as a kid in the summer?  You went out to make friends, you fought to be accepted, you made bad decisions, and your friends helped you through them.  Losing something that is precious, having a crush on a girl in the neighborhood, or just spending every waking moment with your friends, it's all relatable.  You could almost call them vignettes of a childhood summer in America.

      You will find it funny how seriously these kids treat all their problems - and even more so how seriously the movie itself treats their problems.  But isn't that true to life as well?  How many problems did you make worse as a child because you were afraid to ask for help from an adult?  You didn't tell your parents, you got your friends to help you.  And the logic was sound.  To you it made sense.  To you it was the biggest problem you ever faced, and when you and your friends ever found a solution by yourselves, it was a giant victory.

      I own two of the three Captain America movies, and The Sandlot is my most American movie.  If ever a foreign friend asks you what it was like growing up in the states, point them to this movie.  They may not get it, but at least they'll see it.

In Theaters: March 4, 2016

There are THREE wide releases this weekend.

London Has Fallen

After about two hundred billion cliché lines, I stopped watching the trailer.

In 2013 there were two movies about the White House being attacked: "Olympus Has Fallen" in the spring, and "White House Down" in the summer.  Even though White House Down was better, Olympus Has Fallen pre-empted its success and was the more successful of the two.  It was about Gerard Butler as a secret service agent protecting the President played by Aaron Eckhart.

In London Has Fallen, there is a symposium of world leaders in England and guess what!  It's attacked!  It's attacked by (judging from the trailer) the most one-dimensional and vague terrorist character in cinematic history.  This man - complete with a scary-sounding foreign name - is upset with western culture and wants to kill all the world leaders.  The trailer didn't say, but I suspect his motivation is that he is just angry that his character is so horribly simplistic.

But, hey, maybe it'll actually be good!

London Has Fallen is rated R for strong violence and aberrant clichés throughout.  Just kidding.  It's rated R for strong violence and language throughout.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

So, uh, a journalist goes to the middle east.  And, it's . . . uh . . . funny and stuff?  Basically it's Tina Fey doing her impression of Bill Murray in last year's "Rock The Kasbah".

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot doesn't really look that funny, frankly.  Just like Rock The Kasbah.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content, drug use and violent war images.

Zootopia

Not to be confused with "The Secret Life of Pets", which comes out later this year.

Zootopia is a world imagined without people.  In this world animals are just like people, and the world is built for them.  The story revolves around a rabbit police officer and a fox she works with to solve some mystery about animals going rabid or something.

Watch out for this one, because it's the same people that made Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Big Hero 6.  I think it's very promising!

Zootopia is rated PG for some thematic elements, rude humor and action.

Which one will you see?

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 26, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend!

Eddie the Eagle

The British version of Cool Runnings, basically.

Taron Egerton is an actor to watch out for.  I think he could be great in coming years.  Here he plays Eddie, a not-so-gifted English kid who has dreamt of being an olympian all his life.  Hugh Jackman is his coach.

I think Eddie the Eagle looks like it'll be as charming as the true life story was in the 1988 olympics.

Eddie the Eagle is rated PG-13 for some suggestive material, partial nudity and smoking.

Gods of Egypt

The truth is this movie looks like a mess.  But, like, a really pretty and fun mess to watch!

Gods of Egypt has received some bad press because of all the white actors playing the gods of Egypt.  But, whatever, it's a movie.  They can do what they want!  The Egyptian God of the Desert is Scottish.  And why not?

I truthfully have no idea what this movie is about.  I've seen the trailers and all I can gather is that it's god vs god and there are good ones and bad ones.

Gods of Egypt is rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, and some sexuality.

Triple 9

It wants to be "The Town", but I see more of a cross between "S.W.A.T." and "Sabotage".  Sometimes you try too hard to have a hard edge and you end up with too many ultra-modern haircuts that will have your movie dated in five or ten years.  That may be in store for Triple 9.

It's about bank robbers and cops.  Triple 9 is the code given for officer down.  And the cast is stacked to the roof.

Gal Gadot

Kate Winslet

Teresa Palmer

Norman Reedus

Aaron Paul

Casey Affleck

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Anthony Mackie

Woody Harrelson

Something got all of them to sign up.  Maybe, just maybe, it was a good script or something.

Triple 9 is rated R for strong violence and language throughout, drug use and some nudity.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 19, 2016

There were three wide releases last weekend and I totally didn't write anything about them last week.

But because I run this blog there will be absolutely no negative consequences for me for being so irresponsible.

The three were "Race", "Risen", and "The Witch".

Race is about Jesse Owens competing in the Berlin olympics when Hitler was in power, and throwing everything in Hitler's face.  You see, Hitler had a habit of mouthing off about how his white master race was better at everything, and he was gonna use the olympics to prove it.  Too bad for him Jesse Owens, a black man from the USA, broke just about every record he could have broken - and he did it right there in Berlin.

Risen is a christian film about Roman soldiers looking for the risen Jesus Christ.  This "manhunt" as the trailer calls it, is not biblical and therefore I know nothing about it.

The Witch is sorta looking like the scariest horror movie in many many years.  It's colonial America and your family has been kicked out of town.  Now you live by the edge of a forest that people say is haunted and stuff.  Before you know it your daughter is exhibiting strong signs of being a witch, and she's making a mess of things besides!  That's The Witch.

Race is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and language.

Risen is rated PG-13 for biblical violence including some disturbing images (even though this "manhunt" is never mentioned in the Bible).

The Witch is rated R for disturbing violent content and graphic nudity.


      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 12, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend!

Deadpool

Deadpool is a slightly lesser known superhero from Marvel and he's known for being rowdy.  He is the "merc with a mouth".  

The vital stats here is that in this movie he starts out as a normal person in love with a woman.  He gets cancer.  Some people offer to cure him and give him powers.  Then something goes wrong and the people who gave him the powers become the bad guys.

It looks really funny and really inappropriate.

Deadpool is rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.

How to Be Single

This is Dakota Johnson's attempt at being a normal actress.  Her only role of any significance so far was 50 Shades and that is infamous without a doubt.  Now she's trying to take on a "cool" role to prove to you that she can be one of the cool actresses.  She's trying to shed the image of being the ultimate skanky actress.  But she accepted the lead lady role in 50 Shades and she's gonna have to live with the consequences.  We're not buying it, Dakota!

In this movie she plays a girl who gets dumped and her friend teaches her how to live up the single life.

How to Be Single is rated R for sexual content and strong language throughout.

Zoolander 2

What can I say about this one?  It's the sequel to Zoolander.  That says it all.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell reprise their roles.  I don't know what the main conflict is in this movie but I'm sure it's ridiculous and hilarious.

Zoolander 2 is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language.

       Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 5, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend.

The Choice

Another dumb romance movie from that same dumb author who wrote all those other dumb romance movies.  But I like the lead actor.

Oh, and Superman is in it.  He got fat.

Superman got fat.

The Choice is rated PG-13 for sexual content and some thematic issues.

Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! could easily be the best movie of 2016, and will almost certainly be the best comedy of 2016.  This has LOADS of potential.

Hail, Caesar! is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.  Other movies they have written and directed include, but are not limited to:

Raising Arizona

Fargo

The Big Lebowski

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

No Country for Old Men

Burn After Reading

True Grit

and Inside Llewyn Davis

Basically they're a big deal.  And we can all agree that O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of a kind.  Expect Hail, Caesar to be much along the same lines and flavor.

Hail, Caesar! is about the movie business in the 1950's.  George Clooney plays a movie star that gets kidnapped.  It's basically a screwball comedy.

Hail, Caesar is rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and smoking.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Yes, you read that right.  Do not adjust your television sets, America.  That's the real title.

Just take the original Pride and Prejudice and stuff in some zombies.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  It's that simple.  It's that stupid.  In my opinion, anyway.

As a novel this idea works fine (the movie is based on a novel of the same name).  But as a movie?  I don't think it's going to work.  I really don't.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is rated PG-13 for zombie violence and action, and brief suggestive material.

I will go see Hail, Caesar! this weekend.  What'll it be for you?

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 29, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend.

Fifty Shades of Black

The posters for this one have been deemed too suggestive for this blog.

Fifty Shades of Grey had it coming, and I'm glad Marlon Wayans has spoofed it.

It's a spoof of Fifty Shades of Grey, if you didn't catch that part.

Fifty Shades of Black is rated R for strong crude sexual content including some graphic nudity, and for language throughout.

The Finest Hours

This one is pretty straightforward.

The Finest Hours is based on the true story of what is reportedly the most heroic and daring Coast Guard mission ever undertaken by the United States Coast Guard.  Obviously this mission took more than one man hour of labor to perform, hence the title, "The Finest Hours".

Captain Kirk stars in thi- I mean Chris Pine stars in this Disney release

The Finest Hours is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of peril.

Kung Fu Panda 3

I've still never seen one or two.

People seem to like these movies well enough, so I'm okay with a third.  The trailer suggests that he reunites with his father Panda.

What impresses me most is the voice cast.  Talk about loaded!

Jack Black

Angelina Jolie

Dustin Hoffman

Jackie Chan

Seth Rogen

Lucy Liu

Bryan Cranston

Kate Hudson

J.K. Simmons

That's impressive.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is rated PG for martial arts action and some mild rude humor.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 22, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend!

The 5th Wave

These are teen movies now.  For the last eight years teen movies have been taken over and are now synonymous with YA novel adaptations.

The 5th Wave stars Chloe Moretz, who is easily the most interesting young actress right now.  She can act.  She's good.  We aren't worried about her.  She will have a bright career whether or not this film succeeds.

As I understand it this movie is about the end of a long term alien invasion of Earth.  There are waves, and each is designed to kill more of the native population (humans).

The 5th Wave is rated PG-13 for violence and destruction, some sci-fi thematic elements, language and brief teen partying.

Who doesn't like a good brief teen party every now and again?

The Boy

It's a horror movie and if you've read anything on this blog you know I think horror movies are 99% stupid.  This is not the 1%.

The boy is a doll and the doll is haunted and it torments/haunts/spooks/creeps out some people.  It's the same old stuff.

The Boy is rated PG-13 for violence and terror, and for some thematic material.

Dirty Grandpa

I really don't know what to say about this one.  It's a raunch comedy through and through, and I'm not into those either.  I don't find them funny.  Some of them look funny.  This one doesn't.  And I say that in spite of the fact that I actually approve of Zac Efron and I like Robert De Niro.

Dirty Grandpa is rated R for crude sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, and for language and drug use.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 15, 2016

There are three wide releases this weekend.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Michael Bay's latest details the heroism of six men in their role at Benghazi in 2012.

For me personally, any movie that can possibly have a negative effect on the career of Hillary Clinton gets four out of four stars automatically.  Obviously Hillary Clinton was involved with the events portrayed in this movie - she was the Secretary of State at the time.  However, all involved insist that this movie is not political.  They say it focuses only on the heroic acts in the true account, not on any political action (or inaction).

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is rated R for strong combat violence throughout, bloody images and language.

Norm of the North

It doesn't look funny.  And the animation looks second rate.  This is one of those family films that was probably created by people who expected a direct to video release and somehow got a chance for a theatrical release.

Norm of the North is rated PG for mild rude humor and action.

Ride Along 2

Two years ago this very weekend the first Ride Along came out and topped the box office three weekends in a row.  This time around it might do the same or it might not.  I find it difficult to even guess if this will be a good sequel or a very not funny sequel.  But all the pieces are in place so, in theory, it should be as funny as the first!

For those who don't remember, the basic idea is that Ice Cube is a cop and Kevin Hart is engaged to Ice Cube's sister.

Ride Along 2 is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, sexual content, language and some drug material.

      Big Shot Critic

Editorial: If someone tells you they are a film connoisseur…

If someone tells you they are a film connoisseur, and they tell you all about how great…

…Christopher Nolan is: Tier 1.  This person is a noob.  A noob that likes Batman.

…Wes Anderson is: Tier 2.  This person actually pays attention to the film world, at least to some degree.

…Quinten Tarantino is: Tier 3.  This person has watched Pulp Fiction.  Probably recently.  This person could be a poser.

…The Coen Brothers are: Tier 4.  This person has been following and paying attention to movies for at least three years probably.  This person might even have good taste.

…Paul Thomas Anderson is: Tier 5.  This person is legit.  This person really likes film.  This person is not a poser.

…The Fast and the Furious franchise is: This person is David Pratt. You should listen closely.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: January 8, 2016

There are two wide releases this weekend!

The Forest

Imagine a horror movie that doesn't know what a horror movie is supposed to be, so it watches the trailers of every other horror movie to find out.  That is The Forest.

The trailer does not inspire confidence, but at least it tells a bit of the premise.  The main character is Sarah, and she is looking for her twin sister.  Unfortunately for Sarah, her twin sister has entered a forest in Japan that is said to be evil.  Also, it's where people go to commit suicide.  Because, you know, horror movies!

The Forest is rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic content and images.

The Masked Saint

So it's a faith-based film.  That much is clear.  Beyond that, though, it's a bit hard to follow.  And if the trailer is hard to follow . . . well, that usually means the film will be a mess.

The title character is a wrestler and a pastor.  Apparently he faces some kind of conflict.  The trailer showed a particular wrestling opponent, a manager who told him to throw a fight, and some petty thieves whose victims he defended.

The Masked Saint is rated PG-13 for some violence and thematic elements.

      Big Shot Critic