For the later half of '09

Tonight I had the chance to see the latest installment of Pixar's movie streak; Up, and to put it bluntly it was amazing. I will be doing a review later on but for now I'm just going to put together a short list of the movies that I'm going to be going to see this year (I hope).

The Human Factor
Public Enemies
The Lovely Bones
Avatar
Shutter Island
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Where the Wild Things Are
The Informant
The Wolf Man
Harry Potter 6
Funny People
An Education
A Serious Mind
Whatever Works

Virgin Episodes Part Two

Well to finish off the list I started a while ago here are the top two pilot episodes.

#2. South Park - The spirit of Christmas; Frosty vs Jesus- Although this is not technically the pilot South Park, it was the first appearance of our favorite profane Fourth Graders. They learn the true meaning of Christmas in true South Park style.

#1. Mad About You - Romantic Improvisations - In my opinion, the greatest pilot episode of all time. It involves sex, friends, love, hate, kitchen utensils and much much more. The acting is phenomenal, and the writing is brilliantly funny. I love this episode and this show.

Virgin Episodes: Terrible or Great

Now I know this sounds rather perverted but it is just a term used for pilot episodes of television shows. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes absolutely fantastic each episode has one thing in common. They are made for the sole purpose to introduce the characters in the show and to give a general idea of the feel of the show. Now I just recently watched a series of pilot episodes and I have created a list of the best pilots from best to worst (in my opinion of course)

#5. Frasier - The Good Son- This episode did all the things a good pilot is supposed to do and more. It introduced the somewhat uptight psychiatrist from Cheers, Dr Frasier Crane in a new setting, Seattle. This episode had a lot to prove and with the help of Niles, Martin, Daphne, Roz, and Martin's dog Eddie it not only kept the witty writing from Cheers but I think it even out did it's predecessor.

#4. Friends - The Pilot- Starting with just a couple of short sketch scenes showing a bit of a background into the characters lives (i.e. Ross's wife being a lesbian, Chandler having very little tact) and then bang, Rachel comes running in, in a wedding dress, looking for Monica. Although Friends did not garner the critical acclaim of it's typically smarter 90's counterparts (Seinfeld, Fraiser, and Mad About You) this episode grabbed a hold of audiences and never let go.

#3. Star Trek DS9 - Emissary - Although this was not on the pilot episode marathon I saw, this is definitely one of the best. It starts with the usual pilot stuff. Meeting the characters and learning a bit of background information. Then Sisko gets thrown into a whole world of trouble. He ends up stuck in a worm hole with beings who have no knowledge of linear existence. The reason this episode is so great is Sisko's explanation of linear existence to the worm hole beings. It is a truly memorable moment.

Well for the last two, I will have to force you to wait for I am tired. Good night.

Two fantastic movies

If you have been reading my other blogs then you should all know that I am first of all religious and at the same time, very questioning of religion. Well this curiosity of mine has led me to two movies with a very deep base in religion. One was called Jesus Camp and the other was called For the Bible Tells Me So . The first of the two is about a Pentecostal church youth camp in North Dakota. It tells the story of Becky Fisher and her camp for helping kids "Take Back America for Christ". It shows kids acting crazed, speaking in tongues, and preaching to other kids in a way that is very reminiscent of the third Reich. It is incredibly scarring. If you think Halloween is scary, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The later of the two is about homosexuals and the church in the US. I would continue talking about it but I am about to collapse so just look them up yourself.

Star Trek 2009 - This is not what our fathers grew up with

Earlier tonight I was given the pleasure of watching the latest Star Trek film and I have got to admit that it surpassed even my expectations. I was expecting a sexed up version of the origional series that my dad grew up with and i grew up with the re runs of. I was only half right. What waited for me was not only a sexed up version of what I'd grown to love over the years but a new beginning for the franchise. Before you continue reading.

The Movie begins with an epic battle sequence showing the voyage of the USS Kelvin versus a monstrous Romulan vessel know as the Narada. During the battle George Kirk gives his life as the captain of the Kelvin so that the rest of the crew, including his wife and son, can escape. The next part of the movie shows the son (James T Kirk) 25 years later going to star fleet academy. When a problem arrises on planet vulcan all of the Star Fleet cadets are called to help out. When they arrive at vulcan they find that the same ship that had destroyed the Kelvin 28 years earlier is attacking Vulcan.

This movie is absolutely fantastic, and one of the reasons for this is the casting. I know that most trekkies were rather uneasy about rebooting the series becuase of the casting issue but they did a fantastic job. McCoy and Spock were perfectly casy and did great jobs of taking on the characters and making them their own. Kirk was taken on by Chris Pine and this may be considered blasphemy by Trek fans but I like him as much as I liked Shatner. My favourite member had to be Scotty. He was the one person (Simon Pegg) that I knew would do a bang up job.

That is not to say the the casting was the only good thing, because the direction, special effects, and Editing were all just as great. I seiously can't wiat until the next movie.

STAR TREK

I am a huge Star Trek fan. A second generation fan but that doesn't change anything. I have clear memories of sitting in my living room when i was 5 or 6 and watching Star Trek and Star Trek TNG with my dad. Then when I was 8 and 9 I watched the movies and since then I've been in love. I decided to write this in the light of the new movie coming out. I hope it'll be good and think that they couldn't have chosen a better Spock or Kirk to replace Nimoy and Shattner.

So with all that out of the way I'm going to start reviewing the series and movies in order.

The Original Series
Funny but had some serious moments. Favorite episodes The Tholian Web, Space Seed, The Trouble with Tribbles, and of course The City on the Edge of Forever.

Star Trek The Next Generation
Ok lets be honest, the first two seasons wer 95% crap. but of course after that the show became one of the best in TV history. Favourite Episodes ( God this is really really hard) Yesterdays Enterprise, Cause and Effect, All Good Things, The other seven episodes where Q appeares.

Star Trek Deep Space 9
My least favourite of the series but still amazing. Has some of the best characters the franchise has ever seen and had some very good plots. Favourite Episodes Emissary, Q Less, In The Pale Moonlight.

Star Trek Voyager
LOVE LOVE LOVE. This series has my favourite cast and my favourite writing. Chakotay and Doctor are my favourite character in the whole franchise. Favourite episodes Caretaker, Eye of the Needle, and of course Scorpion.

Star Trek Enterprise
It may be less popular than the other series but I love it just the same. Favourite Episodes: In a Mirror Darkly and These are the Voyages.

Now just has a side comment I would like to take the Time to iniciate the best Television episodes of all time list by adding THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER, CAUSE AND EFFECT, SCORPION, ALL GOOD THINGS, and IN A MIRROR DARKLY.

back to the reviews....
Star Trek the Motion Picture 6/10 mediocre special effects but miserable story line.
Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan 9/10 Fantastic Movie nuff said
Star Trek 3 The Search For Spock 6.5/10 ehhh
Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home 8/10 nuclear vessles lolololololol
Star Trek 5 The Final Frontier 2/10 Horrible Movie nuff said
Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country 9.5/10 has close has the origional series cast came to perfection
Star Trek 7 Generations 6.5/10 ehhh
Star Trek 8 First Contact 9.5 has close has the TNG series cast came to perfection
Star Trek 9 Insurrection 8/10 My favourte of the odd numbered Trek Movies
Star Trek 10 Nemesis 7/10 The worst of the even numbered movies

What can be the Lowest of the Low

Yes I know that this is a much lighter topic than I've had recently. I'm just in a more not-so-serious mood as of late. So onto the main event.

Recently I took it upon myself to do something not many people would willingly do. I decided to watch the entire Friday the 13th movie series. It took me a whole long weekend to do but I got through it. The one conclusion I drew from that series was, "how could legendary movies like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween inspire someone to make this heap of crap." I'm sorry to any fans of the series, but I just hate those movies. So then I got to thinking about the whole slasher genre. From it's earliest roots in Psycho to it's latest additions like Prom Night, the slasher genre has always been interesting in North American culture. Although 90% of these movies have horrible actors, directors, writers, and producers, people continue to shell out their money to go see them. I've always found this interesting, so after I had finished watching the Friday the 13th series I decided to come up with a guide to slasher films. I have a list of good ones, mediocre ones, bad ones, and unwatchable ones.

GOOD
A Nightmare on Elm Street 1
Halloween 1
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Psycho
Scream 1
Scream 2
Saw 1
Saw 2
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2

MEDIOCRE
Black Christmas (1974)
Prom Night (1980)
Scream 3
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Halloween 2
Friday the 13th 1
Sleepaway Camp
Saw 3
Saw 4
Saw 5
Halloween (2007)
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Wes Craven's New Nightmare

BAD
Friday the 13th 2, 3, and 12 (2009)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and 3
Halloween 3
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Final Destination 3
Freddy Vs Jason

UNWATCHABLE
Friday the 13th 4-10
Nightmare On Elm Street 4-6
Halloween 4-9
And last but not least any slasher movie from the past decade that was not in another category

Just to finish this off I suggest that no one should ever watch all of these movies like I did. I think I dropped a couple IQ points.

A Quintessentiel Coming of Age Story

Stephen King's coming of age story The Body, has been brought to life by Rob Reiner, Raynold Gideon, and Bruce Evans in the spectacular 1986, film, Stand by Me. It stars Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix as best friends in a small 1950's Oregon town. Within this 88 minute masterpiece, you'll experience thrills, chills, laughs, and an unnerving need to throw up.

It all starts when a dead body is found on the outskirts of Castle Rock, Oregon. When Chris (Phoenix), Gordon (Wheaton), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell) hear about this, they decide to go on an epic adventure to find it. All is fun and games until Vern's older brother and his gang of scoundrels go searching for the body as well. With dilemmas like a ruthless game of chicken and a river full of leeches, the two gangs go to all lengths until they meet up and all hell breaks loose. With deep conversations and hilariously immature outbursts, this movie never loses tension and will keep you satisfied to the very end.

The movie takes place in Castle Rock, Oregon, and its surrounding counties, in the year 1959. Most of the film is shown on the train tracks in the county, which brought a lot of lighting and setting options to the movie. That, plus the music, camera work, and costumes, give the movie a great 1950's feeling. The mood of the different scenes is normally set by the sound, or lack of it. Such as, when the mood is calm or serious, there is very little noise in the back ground, normally only crickets. The camera work is always still during those moments, which helps keep the tension.

Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix, give the strongest and most believable performances as best friends, Gordon and Chris. The two have great chemistry and bring a lot of emotion to the film's story. The two have scenes together, where they talk about their positions in life, death, and the future. In these scenes you can barely believe that they were 12 year old kids, because of the intensity and emotion. Aside from them, Kiefer Sutherland is the best actor in the movie. He is smart, witty, and brings a larger-than-life feeling to his character. Those traits are uncommon, but they are welcome to this bully character.

The theme of this movie is painfully obvious. Be a kid when you're a kid, or you will regret it for the rest of your life. In the scenes between Chris and Gordon, they continually talk about this, and by the end of the film, it's obvious that it's the main point. Another good point is made, right near the end of the film, by an adult Gordon. He says that he never had better friends, than the ones he had when he was twelve. That really adds on to the prior theme, of being a kid, because a big part of being a kid is having friends. When this film was released it was not only vastly popular but it gave a real kick start to the directing career of Rob Reiner. Reiner had only previously directed two movies, This is Spinal Tap, and A Sure Thing, both of which were only met by modest success. After this movie, he went on to direct many blockbusters within many genres, such as Misery, A Few Good Men and, The Princess Bride. Since the genres are so vastly different, the only thing that can be said about his films is that he has made one of the greatest contributions to the film industry, of any modern director. For a final note, this film is fantastic and although it is not for everyone, it's like The Basketball Diaries and is important for teenagers to see.

BUH BUH BUH BUH BATMAN

OK, I finally got around to writing these reviews after having seen the Dark Knight and I'm very happy to say that it's the best of the series. But before I do my review of the best I'm going to do my review of the worst, Batman & Robin.

No matter how good Uma Thurman looked has Poison Ivy there's no disputing the fact that not only did Joel Shumacher really butcher the directing but Akiva Goldsman made the worst script in his career; a complete 180 from his brilliant "A Beautiful Mind". George Cloony was the worst Bruce Wayne (yes he was worse than Adam West) Chris O'Donnell as Robin wasn't much better and Arnold Schwarzenegger became the worst villain of all time as Mr Freeze. I give it a 3/10 for the pure fact that it can be enjoyed if you really have no taste.

Next worse is Batman Forever. Even if it had the most Oscar Nods of the series so far Tommy Lee Jones and Chris O'Donnell doomed the movie from get go. Although Val Kilmer wasn't bad as the caped crusader he just didn't fit the role like Michael Keaton did before him. Another problem was that Joel Shumacher replaced Tim Burton which pushed the comic book appeal way over the top. I've got to say that Nicole Kidman was really good in her role and that she did bring the film up a few notches, but the true star of the film was Jim Carrey. He was so funny and yet so insane in his role has Edward Nigma/the Riddler. I give this a 6.5/10 for not being a total flop.

Now the series begins to get better with Batman Returns. Although Danny Devito wasn't great as the Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer brought the real villain to the film. In this installment Michael Keaton and Tim Burton return to their respective roles has Batman and Director but they definitely lost the magic after they switched the villains. I give this a 7.5/10for not butchering the series.

In 3rd Place the original Batman movie which was fantastic. Jack Nicholson was great has the comical Joker and if I were judging this on awesome cartoony flavor than this would be #1 but since I'm not I put it at 3rd. Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson play off each other so well and there's very little more to it. I give this a 8.5/10 for being the best original and the best Joker until TDK.

In 2nd place Batman Begins reboots the series with a fresh new cast. Christian Bale completely renews the character of Bruce Wayne with a new sense of confusion and bringing a real anti-hero play into the role which is a great spin on the character. Michael Caine does a fantastic job as Alfred and completely blows Michael Gough out of the water. Bringing Morgan Freeman into the movie was a great idea all together. Liam Neeson was a refreshing change from the cartoony villains from the earlier movies and has a great heir of arrogance. The only bad part was Katie Holmes playing Rachel Dawes, she was just a bad choice for the part but luckily she was replaced for the latest installment. I give this a 9/10 for reviving the series.

Finally in 1st place is The Dark Knight. The film is not only the greatest Batman/ Superhero film of all time it's also one of the best films of all time. Director Christopher Nolan brought back the realism he used in Batman Begins as well as the actor's. Christian Bale completes his turn to the anti-hero and is so real in the role, but the real star of the movie is the late Heath Ledger. The darkness he brings to the role rivals Hannibal Lecter as a villain. He is so evil and you just can't deny liking him no matter how much you hate him. His plans, or rather lack of plans make everything very suspenseful. Another star of the film was Aaron Eckhart has Harvey Dent/ Two Face. He brings the knight in shining armor feel to the movie to contrast the anti-hero Batman which is nice until he snaps. I'm not going to give away how or why he snaps but when he does he plays a villain that reminds me Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars 3. He's good but just snaps. Next Maggie Gylenhall plays Rachel Dawes with a much more commanding and sincere character than Katie Holmes did. Like I previously mentioned I did not like Katie Holmes in the role and I find that Maggie Gylenhall was a refreshing choice. Gary Oldman is spectacular has Capt. and later Police Commissioner James Gordan. He never loses his trust in our caped crusader even when the world has turned against him. The final stars of the film are the mob boss Maroni who is a new kind of boss instead of the same Old Italian wacko. There is one thing you can't forget which the design for the latest two movies is which to be short and frank are amazing. The Batmobile is so much cooler now than it was and then the Batcycle is even cooler than the Batmobile. I give this a 10/10 for bringing the superhero movie into the category of Oscar worthy Drama.

To end off I just want to say that I love all the movies (except Batman & Robin) and can say It's one of the greatest series in movie history.

Sometimes you just need to...

Two nights ago I watched one moment that fits into a special, small club of moments in cinematic and television history. Most people know of these moments as tearjerkers. They are those special moments in movies and TV where you just cant help but ball your eyes out. Well the one I watched very easily fits into this category and as I predicted I just started balling away. The episode is Goodbye Radar Part 2 from M*A*S*H. Instead of just going on and on about that I've got a list of sure-to-make-you-ball-your-eyes-out moments.

1. Old Yeller gets Shot
This is the moment where if you are seen not crying while watching it, you will be known as having a heart of stone for the rest of your life. It has become like The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca in the sense that it is no longer just a movie, but a cultural icon. You hear that phrase, "who cried when Old Yeller died?" everywhere. In Bill Murray's famous monologue from Stripes and Friends the One Where Old Yeller Died to name a couple. It has become almost house hold knowlegde that if you didn't cry you have no heart.

2. Abyssinia Henry M*A*S*H
Every M*A*S*H head knows this episode. has the third season came to a close Radar walks into the O.R and informs his C.O that he's going home. The episode is incredibly happy. Hawkeye, Trapper, Radar, and Henry get drunk. Henry kisses Hot Lips full on the mouth. Then he leaves. Everyone got a little teary eyed when that happened, but then they pulled a fast one on all of us. with less than a minute left in the episode Radar walks into O.R sans mask. He then rips this out, "Lt Colonel Henry Blake's Plane was shot down over the sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors." Once he finishes that they circulate around the room and show that everyone is crying. Of course any true M*A*S*H head would have been to teary eyed to notice it. There is a second reason that this moment is so famous. Up until that point, except for a few episodes, M*A*S*H was a sit com. A very happy show. But once Henry died, it really shot the point that war is hell across.

3. Terms of Endearment
Okay I have to admit that I did not cry when Debra Winger died, but that does not take away from the fact that this movie is regularily a bona fide tearjerker. I was not really a fan so that's all I'l say.

4. Goodbye Radar Part 2
Ah hell. Even thinking about this makes me get a bit weepy. First it seems like it'll be happy and nice. Then the wounded arrive and all of Radar's goodbyes get cut short. Then right before he leaves he walks into the Pre-Op area and Hawkeye salutes Radar (a rare occasion to say the least). Then he hops in the jeep and you think that you can recover peacefully. Sorry, they threw in a curve ball at the last moment. After surgery, Hawkeye, BJ and Colonel Potter go back to the swamp for a belt and they see Radar's teddy bear sitting on Hawk's Bed. All I can say is that that is the only scene that make me tear up to this day.

Well there are some others but those are the main ones in my opinion. So until next time.