Box office roundup

[Ironwood]

Wank.

[Riggswolfe]

I dunno about that project, but in checking IMDB for answers I discovered they're remaking Star Trek.

...

I just don't know what to say about that.

The new movie is supposed to be about the first voyage of Kirk and Spock together fresh out of Starfleet Academy. Bones will have a small role in it. Speculation right now is you might see Matt Damon as Kirk and Gary Sinise as Spock. (Though when I say speculation I should say wild rumor and fanboy hopes.)

[Ironwood]

The fanboy hope ought to be that someone put a bullet in the Star Trek franchise and leave it the fuck alone for at least 50 years.

[Riggswolfe]

Oh, and about that weird trailer from before Transformers:

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can't wait to talk to you more about it -- of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you'll know more than I will.

Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online? So as you can imagine, we're focusing mostly on THAT. For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us.

Stay cool the rest of the summer -- and thanks per usual for AICN!

JJ

[schild]

Yea, Cloverfield should rock. Seems World War Zish.

Edit: Or at least, that's what I got from finding a few videos on that other site.

[Merusk]

I dunno about that project, but in checking IMDB for answers I discovered they're remaking Star Trek.

...

I just don't know what to say about that.

The new movie is supposed to be about the first voyage of Kirk and Spock together fresh out of Starfleet Academy. Bones will have a small role in it. Speculation right now is you might see Matt Damon as Kirk and Gary Sinise as Spock. (Though when I say speculation I should say wild rumor and fanboy hopes.)

Yah, Murgos tracked down the info I found already, all I knew was it was being remade.   So since my very tiny Star Trek fanboy is screaming "but they didn't GO to SA together!"  we can expect the unwashed Trek masses to avoid this one, yah?

It's an odd-number flick anyway, it's supposed to suck.

[HaemishM]

If the last Trek flick was even-numbered, it put the lie to that theory.

[Venkman]

Nemesis wasn't terrible. It just wasn't good either. But then, they mostly all sucked after Wrath of Khan anyway. The even-numbered ones just required less fanboi apology.

The new film is likely to be for anyone who's not a ST fan. If not for the MMO, I doubt they'd even bother making it. JJ Abrams will probably do a fine job with it, but he'll be tossing the whole lore book so far out the window the only people it'll appeal are those not burned by Star Trek V.

But then, I'm still pissed they changed the Zephram Cochrane story (I actually did like the film version, I just liked the original book-story in Federation way much more).

[shiznitz]

The movie was my introduction to the Cochran story. What was different in the book version?

[Riggswolfe]

Nemesis wasn't terrible. It just wasn't good either. But then, they mostly all sucked after Wrath of Khan anyway. The even-numbered ones just required less fanboi apology.

The Undiscovered Country was great. The voyage home survives on nostalgia though. First Contact was the only good Next Generation movie.

[Merusk]

The Undiscovered Country was great. The voyage home survives on nostalgia though. First Contact was the only good Next Generation movie.
[/quote]

If the last Trek flick was even-numbered, it put the lie to that theory.

I should have mentioned that I only count the original Trek movies in that rule because:

First Contact was the only good Next Generation movie.

Really, TNG hasn't stood-up to the test of time nearly as well as classic Trek, imo.   It's still got some GREAT episodes to be sure, but it's got a good share of stinkers, too.   But that's starting a frothing nerd fight right there, so let's not go down that path.

[Venkman]

The movie was my introduction to the Cochran story. What was different in the book version?

Going from memory here because I just donated all of my paperbacks (had a few hundred): Cochrane invented both Warp drive and by extension the Starfleet symbol itself* He did this at the latter part of the Colonel Green era on post-apocolyptic Earth (some of which was depicted in Encounter at Farpoint, auspicious start to TNG). As a result of doing this, he also supposedly invited a "Warp Bomb" that Green wanted from him. Over the course of the following 200 or so years, Cochrane would keep jumping ahead in time while Green kept chasing him (he doing so by merging his body with some alien tech). This plot device allow Federation to span all time periods between 21st century Earth through Next Gen. The epilogue was way distant in the future beyond even that point.

One of my favorite Star Trek books, the other being Vendetta (about a more powerful Planet Eater coming into the galaxy kicking the shit out of the Borg, before Species 8279 and the Voyager crap).

First Contact was an awesome movie, and I agree largely the only good TNG one. I liked how Cochrane was portrayed for the most part. It's just a shame they had to do the typical "look at how selfish 20th century humans were) thing instead of showing the idealist Cochrane was originally written to be like.

Undiscovered Country was sort of unrealized potential, and while Voyage Home was a good movie, I hate when future-sci-fi has to visit modern Earth. I live here. I know what it's like. Stop driving home how different/better/worse things are.

* Total geekout here: The Starfleet symbol shows how he did it: the star represents infinite mass/infinite energy which everyone knows is impossible. The two arcs below the star show the growth of energy needs (on the left) and the falloff of realspace energy used after entering warpspace (on the right). The point on the arc is not centered with the star because he figured out how to enter warpspace before hitting the infinite energy point.

[Ironwood]

First Contact was wank and did, in fact, shit all over the actual facts of the Vulcans first contact that had been built up in the books.

Sure, canon problems and all that, but the film did it so fucking bad I shat blood.

[Riggswolfe]

First Contact was an awesome movie, and I agree largely the only good TNG one. I liked how Cochrane was portrayed for the most part. It's just a shame they had to do the typical "look at how selfish 20th century humans were) thing instead of showing the idealist Cochrane was originally written to be like.

I liked it because they all idolized him and they got to see how he wasn't this superman. And I loved that he hated being hero-worshipped. I also enjoyed that he did eventually live up to it.

* Total geekout here: The Starfleet symbol shows how he did it: the star represents infinite mass/infinite energy which everyone knows is impossible. The two arcs below the star show the growth of energy needs (on the left) and the falloff of realspace energy used after entering warpspace (on the right). The point on the arc is not centered with the star because he figured out how to enter warpspace before hitting the infinite energy point.

The problem with this is that other Star Trek canon, including I believe the OS itself established that the Starfleet symbol was originally only the Enterprise symbol. I forget what you call it but it was basically a patch saying "I served on the Enterprise." Because the Enterprise was so successful it was adopted by the rest of the Federation sometime after the OS. In fact, in the OS you do see people with other symbols on their shirts if memory serves.

And the best Star Trek books for me were the Phoenix books (Though now that I'm older I recognize they have some err...disturbing subtext regarding Kirk and Spock. Of course, the Motion Picture novelization, supposedly written by Rodenberry himself out and out says that one of the Vulcan names Spock calls Kirk can be interpreted as "lover") and also Enterprise, the supposed first voyage of Kirk on the Starship Enterprise. It was cool because it had some back story with Kirk's best friend (the guy who goes insane after becoming a God-like being basically) and Carol Marcus from the Wrath of Khan. If I remember right it ends with the lead in to the Episode where the friend gets zapped by the galactic barrier or whatever it was that made him all-powerful.

[Ironwood]

Strangers From The Sky was awesome, even tho it went far too far into 'zomg Vulcans are just hawt and I'm writing this section of the novel with my hand sliding slowly into my dampening crotch'.  It's THE Definitive version of Vulcan first contact.

Also, that other one that is set right after Alexis Carrington got hit by the car and Kirk wants to give up Starfleet, so he reads about his Dad killing Romulans.

That was a great novel.

[murdoc]

Fuck Star Trek.

[Furiously]

So did anyone here see this teaser before Transformers?  I only bring it up because I've seen a couple of movie sites talking about it.  Apparently, the reason people are talking about it is because the teaser doesn't even give the name of the movie. 

Yea - it looked like someone combined Blair Witch with War of the Worlds. But that's just my guess.

[Yegolev]

Fuck Star Trek.

I LOLed such that I choked on my own spit.  Good job.

[Venkman]

Also, that other one that is set right after Alexis Carrington got hit by the car and Kirk wants to give up Starfleet, so he reads about his Dad killing Romulans.

That was a great novel.

Totally agree. Final Frontier was the first run of the Enterprise captained by Robert April (Kirk's father George was with them). Still remember, so many years later, them using the tractor beams to hold onto the Romulan fighters they were laser'ing. There was probably a plot in there too.

Enterprise, the supposed first voyage of Kirk on the Starship Enterprisel.

Thought this one was good up until the stupid (imho) Carnival put on by the troupe they were escorting around. Ended cool, and the aliens were fun, but that stupid three ring circus...

[Venkman]

Back to Transformers and Die Hard 4 for a sec. Odd comparison, but I can't help but compare the "world's best hackers" featured in both against each other. Kevin Smith wins hands down.

You a big Fett fan?
I was more a Star Wars fan myself...
Who the fuck is this guy?!

[Ironwood]

Also, that other one that is set right after Alexis Carrington got hit by the car and Kirk wants to give up Starfleet, so he reads about his Dad killing Romulans.

That was a great novel.

Totally agree. Final Frontier was the first run of the Enterprise captained by Robert April (Kirk's father George was with them). Still remember, so many years later, them using the tractor beams to hold onto the Romulan fighters they were laser'ing. There was probably a plot in there too.

Yeah, they'd also just invented the Transporter (not the Rough East-London Bloke) and beamed a fucking bomb into the bridge of one of the warships.  That was hawt.

[Riggswolfe]

Two other trek novels I really enjoyed:

Ishmael, Spock ends up in the past with amnesia.

And another I can't remember the title of which has a transporter accident which splits Spock during a time when the Organians have disappeared and the Klingons are on the offensive again. One Spock is a traitor and they can't figure out who and of course it has a cool battle where Kirk uses a space mine in an interesting way.

[Chimpy]

When did this thread turn into a Star Trek convention? 

[ahoythematey]

[Ironwood]

When did this thread turn into a Star Trek convention? 

In fairness, you may not have noticed my 'Put a fucking bullet in Star Trek' above.  Allow me my pleasant nostalgia.

[Merusk]

So back to movies...

Harry Potter is fantastic.  It walks the line between movie and book as well as the first, and comes of really really well.  Some folks might be disappointed at the omissions (like my wife) but they were largely unnecessary to the plot itself.  Even the omission of the mirror - which felt the most glaring to me - isn't too bad since the mirror hasn't proven to be important at all since its introduction.  (And, one would assume since Rowling checks over the scripts that the mirror was always a red herring)

There's also lots of good direction in the movie and Yates gets some fantastic performances out of ALL the kids.  The scene where McGonagal confronts Umbridge about Harry's punishment is particularly well shot.  The way they change positions as the argument progresses even hit me as well-done and I'm usually oblivious to that sort of thing.  He also worked-in several other things very subtly.  Ginny's jealousy, Snape's potions diary and Percy's betrayal being the ones that spring to mind.

Umbridge is really creepy and very well-done.  You really, REALLY hate the bitch even though they can't go into the detail that the book does.  The way they work in her progressive rise to power is clear without wasting a lot of time. There's a LOT of important plot here and it's done very well.  The fight at the end is fantastic without being as over-the-top and time-wasting as the damned dragon scene in Goblet of Fire.  It does what it needs to, keeps the tension and provides some really good action.

In all, I think this one's my favorite so far. 

Oh, and Helena Bonham Carter is hot, even playing a dirty psycho-murderer prison escapee.  :-D

Ed: I can't believe I forgot to mention that the Luna "Loony" Lovegood part was absolutly NAILED by the actress.

[Oban]

The IMAX 3D version is so worth the extra money.

Do not want to spoil anything for those that have not seen it in 3D yet, but... wow, just wow.

[Venkman]

I thought Luna Lovegood and Umbridge were awesome. The fight at the end was also very well done. But otherwise I thought it plodded a bit slowly, and there weren't enough of the "big" moments I loved in the 3rd movie. It had one of those things going on where everything that was shown was on screen for just a bit too long. At least for myself. I basically prefer faster pacing.

A fine execution, certainly better than the first two.

[Ironwood]

 Some folks might be disappointed at the omissions (like my wife)

So why did they cut your wife ?

[Selby]

But otherwise I thought it plodded a bit slowly, and there weren't enough of the "big" moments I loved in the 3rd movie. It had one of those things going on where everything that was shown was on screen for just a bit too long.

Compared to the book, I felt it was slightly rushed.  Rowling goes on for a while introducing all of the characters, describing scenes, and adding various components that don't always translate well into film in her books which makes them into 850 pages that require alot of time to get through to the end (nowhere near as bad as other writers though).  I felt that they did a great job of condensing things down into a manageable movie for everyone.  Another 35 minutes of Harry feeling isolated or having bad dreams combined with more interaction between various characters for a little more backstory may have been filmed and cut at the director's discretion (it did feel to me that some of the editing was a bit jarring at times).  All of my friends felt they should have 2-parted it, but what purpose would that serve beyond adding another 2.25 hours of material that, while in the book, would have dragged the movie pacing down and not contributed to the overall plot progression.  Only the dedicated fans would have been happy with that, and here we get the best of both worlds.  What works in print doesn't always work on film and what can take multiple chapters to explain can be shown in passing scenes and people's expressions\actions on film quickly.  Definitely a fine line to getting it balanced well and remaining true to the source.

[Merusk]

 Some folks might be disappointed at the omissions (like my wife)

So why did they cut your wife ?

She got lippy, and needed a lesson.  She smiles a little wider now.

[Venkman]

I totally agree. I generally don't care how well a movie iterates a book as much as I care about it being comparable to other movies of the day. The story needs to survive the medium. For example, I'm not unhappy that Tom Bombadil and the Wights didn't make the Peter Jackson flicks. Compelling characters and fleshed out the dangerous world beyond the Shire. But for a modern movie-going audience, the world is already dangerous, so doesn't need to be driven home beyond them using Bilbo's voiceover to say "it's a dangerous world out there".

I think the HP movie did a fine job of show Harry the teenage angsty reluctant hero. I don't think they dwelled on that too long actually. Rather, it was everything else. It's mostly in the pensive looks, when someone or a group is looking at someone else just slightly too long. It's kinda hard to nail down but I notice this in some movies more than others probably because those other movies are fast/frenetic. The last two movies I saw were Die Hard 4 and Transformers. By comparison, Harry Potter was like reading The Simarillion :)

[AngryGumball]

Harry Potter sucked...

It was merely a bridge movie that robbed us of money before the next one or two.

The scene with the centaurs and the half brother giant totally not needed with regards to the movie. It isnt' exactly clear the centaurs grab Umbridge and run off with her but we see later on she was removed from the school, so what exactly happened to the centaurs that had her and how did she get away.

Frankly as well, I found them to old and caring less and less.

[murdoc]

Saw 'Tranformers' and loved it. It was easily the best car commercial I have EVER seen.

[Riggswolfe]

I enjoyed Harry Potter. It's not my favorite, for that I'm still torn between Azhkaban and Goblet. Order of the Phoenix is by far my least favorite of the books, so the fact that I liked the movie as much as I did says something for the script and director.

Pros:
Less eyebrow wiggling by Hermoine.
Dolores irritated me less in the movie.
The last battle was neat and for some reason the fatality felt better done in the movie than in the book.
I enjoyed seeing Remus and Mad Eye Moody again.
Tonks was just as cute as I always pictured her.
McGonnigal was my hero in this one. I loved how she kept telling off Umbridge. And yes, I noticed how their physical position changed based on who was "winning" the argument.
Beatrix as played by Bonham-Carter was hawt!

Cons:
I wish they'd left in Ron's Quidditch and Hermione's blackmailing of Reeta Skeeter so they had more to do.
Draco was almost absent from this film?