Star Trek

This movie is a little late, but I finally got around to seeing it. As is the trend with most movies now, you show several iterations of it, then you go back and recreate how they got there. Remember the Star Wars double-trilogy, X-Men, to name a couple.

In this release of another Star Trek movie, we are taken back to when James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is born, a brief glimpse of his youth, and his unflattering attendance at Star Fleet Academy. Meanwhile, they also parallel Spock's youth and his rise to an officer in the Star Fleet (Spock (Zachary Quinto) is a bit older than Kirk).

The plot is confangled and a bit difficult to summarize, but basically the Romulans have attacked the Vulcans and there's a time warp and some treachery going on. After the captain of the Enterprise is taken hostage, it's up to Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov to save the Enterprise and Earth from Nero, the evil Romulan. The movie is full of action, pretty decent computer graphics, and sound effects.

The movie earned nominations for awards including a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack Album, and several People's Choice nominations: Breakout Actress, Breakout Actor, Favorite Franchise, Favorite Movie, though the movie walked away from each empty-handed.

Directed and produced by J.J. Adams, Star Trek is PG-13 for science fiction violence and some minor sexual content. And when you get to that part, the color on your screen is correct. She's green.

Also staring in the movie are Eric Bana (Captain Nero), Leonard Nimoy as old Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu (from Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle), Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and Winona Ryder as Spock's mother.

I really really enjoyed watching this movie and look forward to the sequel. I freely give this new Star Trek movie 5 stars. I will definitely watch it again.

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

I'm not sure that I can write an unbias review of this movie. The one thing that stands out in my mind just trumps the rest of the movie. But I'll give it the old college try. Let me know how I do.

This is the sequel to the Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle movie that came out in 2004. If I remember this correctly, this is actually the next day, or maybe several days later, despite the 4 year difference. The White Castle movie was very funny and recommended to me by several people. I was not disappointed. However, several subsequent Kal Penn movies sucked gopher balls (Epic Movie, The Rise of Taj).

In this sequel Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo, H and K are going to Amsterdam, mostly to get high and seek out hookers. Kumar is a budding financial person and Harold, well, his father wants him to be a doctor. I think he just wants to get high and seek out hookers. On the flight over the Atlantic, a hysterical woman believes them to be terrorists, a thought which is solidified when she sees him stumble out of the bathroom with something suspicious. Air Marshalls apprehend both of them and they are sent to Guantanamo.

After some antics, they escape and make their way to a friend's house in Miami. This is where the bias sets in. This dude was rebelling against the topless party trend and going with a bottomless party. And they were bottomless. Lots of hinies. Lots of landings strips. Too much for the average male to maintain his composure.

After that there was some more movie, some old girlfriend, her jerk fiance', and a rekindling of Kumar's love for her. No, she did not participate in the party.

There is some comedic value to this movie, but not nearly as much as the first one. The movie is rated R for crude humor, language, "graphic nudity" (it looked real to me!), and drug use. H&K is an hour and 20 minutes long.

I gave this movie 3 stars. The party itself brought the star rating up from a potential 2-star. I wouldn't recommend watching this with your girlfriend. Watch Just Like Heaven with her.