I went to watch Star Trek earlier (which shockingly has an 8.6/10 rating on IMDB at the moment, but that’ll no doubt decrease after all the furiously-flapping fanboys (and girls?) have cast their votes) and it was… great! Exciting, fun, dangerous, loud and very well executed.
Unfortunately, the plot was weak. There was a fantastic beginning, and the ending was energetic but… there wasn’t a middle. So much of the film was spent developing the characters and justifying a new rebirth 40 years after the original series that, other than the fun intro to the characters, and lots of big bangs, there wasn’t a whole lot more to the movie. But, hey, they’ve all signed on for three films (as always, nowadays) so we can expect to see a sequel, if this film’s a success — so go and watch it, and make sure there’s enough interest for a second film!
Syla– er, Spock — was, unsurprisingly, the centerpiece, but he was supported by an often-fantastic entourage of other young starlets. Bones and Scotty — Karl Urban and Simon Pegg — provided some much-needed ‘maturity’ to the film, and some very realistic revivals of their character’s original accents and mannerisms.
Perhaps, most importantly, Jennifer Morisson (of House M.D. fame) had a tiny cameo role at the start of the film. For those of you that don’t know her, she’s the most beautiful girl in the world (well, just behind the Kristen Bell of season one Veronica Mars).
In the film she was pregnant with the soon-to-be-born Captain James T. Kirk and a bit sweaty, but her inner beauty still shone through!
Anyway, I’ve managed to spin this review to at least 300 words, so now I don’t feel too bad showing off my Riker Beard that I crafted specially just for today’s Star Trek viewing. Now, the geeks among you will say that William Riker wasn’t actually in the original Star Trek, but, well… no one in the original Star Trek had a damn beard. I had to branch out a little.
I shaved off the ‘undergrowth’ because, in the words of my ex-girlfriend ‘it makes you look a bit like a paedophile’. Well, at least she was honest. You hear that, Riker?
Hezabelle
May 9, 2009
Mmmm Riker.
Jennifer Morrison is WAY hotter than Kristen Bell.
pinkjellybaby
May 9, 2009
Oh yes, she’s lovely…but I prefer her with dark hair….
sebastian
May 9, 2009
This is the bit where I tell you that The American looks awfully like Kristen Bell.
I possibly have a bit of a thing for short, blonde girls. Just possibly.
the girl in stiletto
May 9, 2009
you surprised me again. you definitely don’t look like someone who even know veronica mars. i was very upset when they cut the show off. i wanted to see VM to get somewhere with logan. damn, logan was hot. ahahahah..
sebastian
May 9, 2009
Well… it was a good show! At least, season 1 was great, and… I think season 3 was OK too? (Shame about the weak open-ended ending though!)
The film got axed too recently I think… it was meant to follow her at the end of college, and then leaving. But apparently the script wasn’t good enough, or some producer pulled out — I guess there really is no hope for a real ending
Logan was one sexy psychopath. But Kristen Bell… mmmm.
Hezabelle
May 9, 2009
I just realized that Kristen Bell was in Reefer Madness…
She doesn’t look at all the same in that picture! Crazy. Way hotter in Reefer Madness and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
pinkjellybaby
May 9, 2009
She’s a bit cross-eyed.
sebastian
May 9, 2009
She was pretty hot in Heroes season three also, when she was in the container with Sylar, burning him alive with electricity…
Like I said, I have a thing for short blonde things. I didn’t say it was entirely rational
Forgetting Sarah Marshall really tore me up… the brunette vs. Kristen… If only that sex scene had been slightly more realistic…
the girl in stiletto
May 9, 2009
you can have kristen bell, seb. i’ll deal with logan echolls. i’ve seen jason dohring *logan* in moonlight and he was damn sexy too in that series. those vampires in moonlight put twilight sexiness to shame.
Jo
May 10, 2009
Hey, Girl in the Stiletto, I am friends with Jason Dohring! He is a sweetie….
Muppet
May 10, 2009
As long as you don’t drive a windowless white mini-van I think you’re okay in the liking-the-kiddies department.
You know, I haven’t seen one minute of any Star Trek footage.
I do love me some George Takei, though, for other reasons.
sebastian
May 10, 2009
SENSEI NAKAMURA?!
Or… is he your father, something funky like that?
I don’t drive a mini-van, but I did spend a lot of time outside all-girls schools when I was at university.
Chele
May 10, 2009
great beard!! just saw star trek last night as well, i loved it, agree on the plot but I was highly entertained for 2 hours. especially when the real spock came to the screen
miss rambles
May 10, 2009
who did u go wit to see said movie?!?!?!
they cn’t hve been tht awesome cos they didn’t even get a mention if u had taken ME as i had suggested well it would have been a whole different story!!!now am gng to watch it with someone else as well!!!
ps love the beard
sebastian
May 10, 2009
I went to see it with two guy friends. I set my Facebook status to ‘Who wants to see Star Trek?’ and within MINUTES someone had asked me to go.
I guess I have more friends than I thought…
Or people just like hanging out with my awesome beard; they wouldn’t be that shallow, would they?
andhari
May 10, 2009
She’s just not my type haaa I mean, not the kinda girls I’ll say pretty. I like girls with more aristocratic looks lol
Anyhoo, I cannot wait to watch startrek!
miss rambles
May 10, 2009
It is a rather awesome beard!!
Were there any attempts to stroke/touch/feel from said friends?!
Melissa
May 10, 2009
The thing about Riker (and out comes a facet of my nerdiness) is that he’s from Alaska. And everybody knows in Alaska you have to have at least 4 sq. feet of serious body hair or you may as well pack up your testosterone and move south! Also, he looked like a total (12-year-old) tool without the beard. But you being from England, yes you’d look very pervy with the under-beard. But if you were REALLY bold you’d join the ranks of baby-faced original Trek tools.
Jossie Posie
May 10, 2009
So the Riker beard is amazing and yes maybe a tad pedo but when I was young and used to watch TNG I was soooo in love with Riker despite the fact that he was as old as my dad. :-S Maybe I shouldn’t say that, makes me sound weird.
I think overall I agree with your review. But despite the weakish story I LOVED it. I want to go see it again, right now! I felt like I missed so much because I was so giddy to actually be watching it (this also happens whenever I watch a Harry Potter movie for the first time) I know I’m a dork but I can’t help it. I grew up in a Star Trek filled house (honestly a full blown sci-fi filled house with everything from Flash Gordon to Close Encounters), my mother even went so far as to wear her Starfleet Academy Alumni T-shirt to the movie on Thursday night. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with her
at least she didn’t take her tri-corder and her communicator, because she totally has them.
I thought the actors did a great job channeling their characters while still making it their own…and when Bones said his signature line my mother and I couldn’t hold in our giggle of excitement. So yeah, I loved it.
Jaime @ Fast Times
May 10, 2009
I went and saw the movie last night with my dad (and posted my ‘review’ of it on my blog). I LOVED IT!!! Not sure how much I liked Wynona being in the movie, but Jennifer Morrison was a pleasant surprise. She’s a good actress (and I love her with blonde hair).
Also, your No 1beard is nice. m/
sebastian
May 10, 2009
She’s totally aristocratic, Andhari… look at those high cheekbones! And kinda almond-shaped eyes! She certainly looks upper-class to me…
I had no idea Riker was from Alaska (the character, I presume? Unless you’re so geeky that you also know the backstory for every TNG character…) But that makes a lot of sense, with the body hair and all. I have very little body hair actually, considering just how big I am, and how dark my hair is. Not a single strand of back hair, thank God. Not like my cousins, who have it poking out the back of their t-shirts…
Without a beard I look like frickin’ Wesley Crusher… (Wil Wheaton incidentally, went on to become some kind of geek God? Or at least he was very influential a few years back, when I was more ‘into’ the technology-geek thing)
Your back-story is being filled in nicely, Jossie. I’m starting to understand what makes you… tick. (Did you take your own Communicator…? I had one when I was younger too… It made all the original noises!)
Did you ever ask your mum to beam you down to the dinner table, to save time?
sebastian
May 10, 2009
Ah, yes, I thought that was Winona, but I wasn’t sure! It’s not like she had a very big part… but it was OK! A far cry from her youthful beauty in other films, but still…
I’m definitely more a fan of the darker hair. The blonde (at least in House) looks very… bleached.
Melissa
May 10, 2009
Yes, it’s the Riker character who’s from Alaska. I was raised on Star Trek, by kind-of-but-not-really-Trekkie parents, so I have random knowledge but nothing really obsessive! I have no idea about the actors…. Except Wil Wheaton, who is now doing podcasts of a Dungeons and Dragons game with the guys from Penny Arcade…. (And out comes ANOTHER nerdy facet!) But I only know about that because my husband likes to listen to them. I swear!
Jossie Posie
May 10, 2009
I can tell you what makes me tick: Cheese, coffee, Jane Austen, a hefty dose of sci-fi, gaming and music oh and napping. Now you know all. Well not all, cause what would be the fun in that
I did not take my communicator but I was totally tempted to bring a Tribble in with me and set it off mid movie. You joke about that, but we totally used to tell each other those kinds of things. My parents used to threaten us with the mind-meld and we in turn would threaten the vulcan death grip. We are a strange bunch.
sebastian
May 10, 2009
I’ll one-up your geekiness and say that I very, very nearly starred in a similar podcast, only a game of Deadlands, which is an 1800s ‘Wild West’ setting… with zombies, and demons, and other unmentionables.
But… we pulled out at the last minute. I still want to revive it though. I’m sure people want to listen to a bunch of Brits trying on their bestest cowboy accents.
sebastian
May 10, 2009
Ohhh! I was told there was a Tribble in the film! I was told to look out for it, but I totally forgot to…
Did you spot it? Or is it just some urban legend? Imagine the wonders of modern computer graphics and a re-make of the Trouble of Tribbles episode…
I’ll be your D’Arcy, if you have a decent corset. Mind you, I don’t know if the world is ready for your, um, ampleness… in a corset. Likewise, I’m not sure if the world is ready for me, emerging from a lake…
Jossie Posie
May 10, 2009
I didn’t see one but I’ll be sure to look out for it when I watch it again…you know, I’m not sure that episode ever has to be re-done the original is so great as is…and I think the lack of computer graphics makes it that much better.
Oh Seb, my darling you need to watch out for me in a red corset for my Circus theme birthday party in July. I’ll be acting as the Ringmaster for the evening
not quite Austenesque (more along the lines of a dominatrix really) but still a corset nonetheless.
Hannah
May 12, 2009
Did you know that parts of this new Star Trek movie were filmed at my college? pretty awesome.
P.S. if I were into girls, I would totally want to do the dirty with Jennifer Morrison.
sebastian
May 12, 2009
I didn’t know that! Which college?
Perhaps we can have a threesome with her then… Keep us both happy…
I think the whole world will be looking out for you in July, Jossie. I expect a blog post, and photos from multiple angles… so that I can recreate a holographic figure of you….
Hannah
May 12, 2009
CSU Northridge. There is one bit (I’m told, I’ve yet to see the movie
) where they’re running down a big bank of steps and that’s the Oviatt Library (which has the largest collection of porn in the country, because we’re awesome like that…either that or the second largest porn collection…I don’t remember exactly, but we’re known for our porn).
I’d totally be down for a 3some with Jennifer Morrison, lol.
Hannah
May 12, 2009
Here’s a link to some pictures:
http://img.trekmovie.com/images/st09/st09sbcom/24.jpg
http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/TrekSetBig4%20(Custom).JPG
http://media.movieweb.com/news/03.2008/trek/01.jpg
sebastian
May 12, 2009
Very cool! I did wonder where they’d found such an awesome set of stairs — it looked like one of the huge ancient libraries we have here in the UK — but obviously, all of the US buildings are based on UK/French designs… And all of OUR designs are based on Roman stuff! Well, just about.
Go and see it, Hannah
Hannah
May 12, 2009
that’s one cool thing about living in LA…seeing places where things get filmed. I was watching The Office and I totally recognized this pastrami stand (weird, I know) and then around the corner from my aunts house, bout one block away, is the school where they filmed that movie 13. It’s kind of fun to find those things.
I need to see it. My friends like to turn their nose up at Star Trek though…I’m very close to convincing one of them though…so maybe this weekend.
Melissa
May 12, 2009
I can’t imagine anything in the whole world better than a podcast of British geek cowboys fighting zombies. The second part of that sentence should rock everyone’s socks.
Do it!