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Friday, May 8, 2009

Weekend movie roundup: Star Trek and the other stuff

by John P. Meyer

"It's Algolian Ale time."

It's a big, big weekend for movie premieres in North Texas, with no fewer than six new films hitting area cinema screens this Friday, May 8.

But only one of them really matters in terms of box office and that's J.J. Abrams' bold re-envisioning of Star Trek, which has been heavily buzzed for well over a year and a half. To quote this go-round's uber-villain Nero: "The wait is over."

In addition to our local review, be sure to check out the quite excellent one posted by PegNews content partner Trey Garrison.

In a (sort-of) tie in, Dallas-based Blockbuster recently released the results of their online fan survey of favorite sci-fi characters. To wit:

Favorite Starship Captain:

1. Malcolm Reynolds in "Firefly" and "Serenity"

2. James T. Kirk in the original "Star Trek"

3. Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

4. Han Solo in "Star Wars"

5. William Adama in "Battlestar Gallactica"

Favorite Sci-Fi Villain(s):

1. Darth Vader in "Star Wars"

2. Agent Smith in "The Matrix"

3. The Borg in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

4. The Reavers in "Firefly" and "Serenity"

5. John Cavil in "Battlestar Gallactica"

Favorite Sci-Fi Hunk:

1. The Doctor as played by David Tennant in "Dr. Who"

2. Han Solo in "Star Wars"

3. Neo in "The Matrix"

4. Lee Adama in "Battlestar Gallactica"

5. Fox Mulder in "The X Files"

Favorite Sci-Fi Babe:

1. Seven of Nine in "Star Trek: Voyager"

2. Leloo in "The Fifth Element"

3. Princess Leia in "Return of the Jedi"

4. Caprica-Six in "Battlestar Gallactica"

5. Kate Austen in "Lost"

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"This weekend's movies are a KNOCKOUT!"

Also opening Friday is Tyson, the James Toback biopic that Alex found to be a "top notch" entertainment. Alex's post includes an audio interview with director Toback.

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I really got a kick out of Jim Jarmusch's latest, an enigmatic impressionist piece called The Limits of Control. (Or maybe it's called No Limits, No Control - the jury is still out.) Nude women with glasses: gotta love 'em.

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Skills Like This, a little indie pic out of Colorado (by way of SXSW), seems to extol the virtues of a life of crime. I found its offbeat slacker characters to be likeable and its counter-culture story to be moderately entertaining, and I would definitely buy a margarita from Rosa.

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Gordon Jackson of PegNews content partner Dallas Weekly interviewed comedian/actor Mike Epps for his role in Next Day Air. Mike thinks his new movie is "hot, it's going to do some numbers." (We presume he's talking about ticket sales.)

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And finally: later in the weekend I'll post a review of the behind-the-scenes, glam-tabulous documentary about haute couture fashion designer Valentino called (appropriately) Valentino: The Last Emperor, which will feature an audio interview with that film's director, Matt Tyrnauer. It's hard to be humble when 200,000 swooning supplicants attend the 45th anniversary of your company's founding. In front of Rome's Coliseum.

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Russ Vandeveerdonk, says:

WOW, what a movie! Not just for TREKKIES anymore! Excellent!

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7 months ago
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Christin Richard, says:

That's really good to hear, Russ, because in the decade's collection of notable fanfare, I now worry about hype-injected comeback films that may take themselves too, too seriously, or whose comical element seems contrived. Your comments give me encouragement of excitement!