STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - episodic felicity

Star Trek Into Darkness comes to us with all the trimmings we've come to expect from J. J. Abrams from great special effects, lens flares, humorous characters to ambiguous baddies—all the trimmings that is except a captivating story.

We are of course set up with leadership conflicts near the start which get resolved rather quickly when the primary antagonist of the movie, Khan (Cumberbatch), starts wasting top Fleet Academy members. Kirk demands justice and with rage barley in check, pursues vengeance, with Spock at his side to curb the harboring vigilante within. On route to the Klingon homeland in hopes of annihilating Khan is the only logical narrative step. The crew arrives to kill or apprehend Khan only to discover a juicy secret which is the most interesting aspect of the movie. But after 5 minutes of explaining away the motives, the enigma of the story loses any real hopeful anticipatory excitement. 

I still walked away enjoying Star Trek. It just wasn't a great movie and certainly not as good as the first one. The film does give fans and hardcore Trekkers (as they prefer over Trekkie) some scenes of reminicent bliss as well as a twist reverse near the end concerning Spock and Kirk but not really enough to say 'wow' that was someting special. It felt like an excellent high budget episode of  TV Star Trek. Maybe this is all we really need but I wished for more.

Recommended Viewing: Star Trek II - Star Trek (2009) - Star Trek (1979)

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 7.2   -   The Fan: 7.9

             MetaCritic: 72

 Rotten Tomatoes: 87

                    IMDB: 8.3

THE WORDS - dear diary in triad

The Words is not receiving any critical acclaim but that has not stopped me from enjoying this quiet gem.

The story consists of a strict triptych of vignettes, each with their own characters and plot lines that, of course, connect in some way. The first chronological narrative takes place in 1930's Paris, the second in contemporary New York and the final sliver, roughly 20 to 30 years further on. 

Bradley Cooper is a decent but struggling writer who receives, as a gift, an old messenger bag that contains a unknown brilliant manuscript inside. Due to life's pressures he decides to publish the work as his own and becomes rather famous. The original author finds him out and thus literary drama ensues. 

This is a story of passion and loss. It was not an enthralling tale but a solid late night movie with a loved one and a glass of Pinot. 

I also viewed the bizarre monstrosity, Branded, which had potential but became a banal message movie about the evils of advertising. Wacky and bad filmmaking sometimes revivify interest in the absurd but not this little pos. Why the hell was Max von Sydow in this?

Recommended Viewing: Quills - Misery - Through A Glass Darkly

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 7.0   -   The Fan: 7.7

             MetaCritic: 39

 Rotten Tomatoes: 16

                    IMDB: 6.8