***** SPOILER ALERT ***** ***** SPOILER ALERT ***** ***** SPOILER ALERT *****
I did it. I went to see Star Trek. Was it as good as I wanted it to be? No, it could never be. Is it a good film? It is a bloody great film.
JJ Abrams’ Star Trek reboot is a masterpiece of SF action cinema. The film is perfectly paced and concentrates on the personal whilst showing spectacular action sequences. It is about grief and vengeance and has real guts by sticking to its convictions.
I am going to start with the negatives; hey I’m that kind of guy. There are far too many coincidences - rather illogical. Kirk just happens to be dumped on a random planet and in an area where old Spock is hiding in a cave. With incredible luck they realise there is a Federation base nearby, run by an outcast Scotty. I have heard it suggested that because Nero and Spock are messing with the past the timelines are trying to correct themselves with these pieces of luck. That’s lucky then.
Villain Nero suggests that his fantastic ship is just a standard mining vessel and he cannot comprehend how people in the past find it so fantastic, proving that the mundane of the future is a spectacle in the past. Why is it then that when we are first introduced to Kirk he is driving a 20th century car, using a Nokia GPS and listening to the Beastie Boys before drinking a bottle of Budweiser? Wouldn’t Kirk’s present be as fantastic to us as Nero’s is to him? And why is everything in Iowa – Kirk, the starship dockyards, Starfleet Academy bars, Captain Pike and Uhura?
I apologise for my little nitpick. Let’s concentrate on the positive.
Abrams, along with the screenwriters, made the brave decision to create an alternate timeline, irrevocably changing our heroes’ destinies. Gone is over 40 years of convoluted Star Trek canon and law. The removal of a reset button feels like a liberation. These characters are now vulnerable to danger and even death, they can be hurt. Vulcan really has been destroyed, Spock’s mother has been killed and Uhura likes snogging Spock. If only The Master storyline of Doctor Who had been so brave.
The new acting talent on show is outstanding. These actors embody the heart and soul of their roles while avoiding caricature. The only noticeable ‘impression’ is Karl Urban’s McCoy, but he still eerily nails the role. You will not pine for Kirk’s affected hamyness when watching Chris Pine’s intensity and energy. Simon Pegg’s Glasgow accented Scotty is a little odd but he has the best lines – asking Spock if there are still sandwiches in the future.
Zoe Saldana’s Uhura is gorgeous, sassy and smart and both Sulu and Chekov have more to do than they did for the whole of the Original Series. The only real let down is Eric Bana’s Nero. After Khan and Chang he feels a little ineffectual with his ship full of biker bullyboys. But this is a good thing, avoiding yet another pantomime Star Trek villain.
The film is populated with gorgeous sets and effects and ingenious production design. The tweaked Enterprise is amazing, sparse and modern yet industrial and cluttered; it is both faithful and up-to-date. The action is ramped by the use of shaky cam and glare, placing us directly into the combat. The planet Vulcan destroyed, a far more impressive scene than the destruction of the Genesis planet in The Search for Spock.
It is the presence of Nimoy that gives this film real gravitas. His monologue at the film’s end mirrors that of The Wrath of Khan. In Khan we experienced Spock’s passing, an ending of sorts, here, his voiceover represents a brave new beginning.
Today is the day. I will be visiting the cinema this evening to see the most eagerly anticipated movie of the year, for me anyway. At 8.30 tonight I will be sitting on the front row of Screen 1 in Mile End Road’s Genesis Cinema. Guess which film it is. Go on. No, not Hanna Montana. Tonight is my Star Trek night. Will I be disappointed? Probably. Will I think it is one of the greatest films ever made? Hopefully. Tune in tomorrow.
Last week I went to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I enjoyed the first two X-Men movies, with their political subtext of discrimination, mistrust and intolerance. However, the third movie was rather rubbish and dreary. I went into this film with very low expectations and rather enjoyed it for its spectacle, vision and combat set-pieces. Sadly though, Wolverine is not a great film.
It is difficult to discern who this movie is aimed at. Anybody who has seen X2 will have seen the Wolverine origin story and newcomers will be confused by the half-drawn characterisation of the bit part mutants; Gambit, Deadpool, Cyclops and the Blob. There is a lack of any emotional resonance - all the main characters are indestructible and it is impossible to invest any real interest or empathy when you know no one will be hurt.
It is not all bad though. Liev Schreiber brings charisma to the talon-fingered Sabretooth, brother of Wolverine, and Huge Action is always fun to watch, although he does make a rather camp Wolverine and not the bruising, hellraising and Berserker raging comic book hero.
The highlight of the film is the title sequence – a brutal, stylish and thrilling montage of the immortal brothers during various global warfare scenes, from the trenches of the Great War to the beaches of Normandy to the madness of Vietnam.
Ultimately, this is more death knell than reboot. Let’s hope there will still be a Magneto movie.
This week I have mostly been listening to:
Franz Ferdinand
No You Girls
Calvin Harris
I’m Not Alone
Velvet Goldmine
Soundtrack
Julian Cope
20 Mothers
Urge Overkill
The Supersonic Storybook
Urge Overkill
Stull EP
When you have had several bottles of red wine too many and a bottle of cheap Estonian vodka do not, I repeat, do not decide to receive a chocolate enema administered by a seven foot tall tranny. Oh the mess. Oh the chocolate. Oh the heels.
It was as effective as a, erm . . . . chocolate enema.
As Johnny Rotten once said, “Love is 2 minutes and 52 seconds of squelching noises.”
A typical lunch hour in London:
Walking onto Blackfriars Bridge, avoiding the closed pavements due to station refurbishment, I walk past Bobby Gillespie, singer in popular blues and electronica group Primal Scream. There is no mistaking Gillespie, he always appears incredibly greasy and gaunt, a man who has had an eventful life and could be very close to a sudden death.
I have seen him before outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, probably getting something for a heroin addiction before meeting up with Peter Doherty for some heroin fun. Years ago, I helped with the music PA for Primal Scream in a club in Nottingham. Gillespie looked just as old, gaunt, greasy and near death then too.
He gave a small nod of acknowledgement and I strolled on towards the Millennium Bridge. As usual it was full of tourists and film crews.
I was surprised to see everybody move over to the left side of the bridge, leaving an inviting path on the right. This was the path I took. Suddenly, someone shouted through a megaphone, “Cut, man in shot, idiot!” Hey, that man was me and I was surrounded by people with walkie-talkies, film cameras and tasers, probably.
I walked past Peter Firth and Nicola Walker, which is a bit of a plot spoiler for anybody that watches Spooks and can remember what happened to Ruth. Firth is a short, stout man, his face was turning a very dark shade of red and I thought I could see steam exiting his ears as he gave me a deadly stare.
I don’t understand these Spooks types. If they operate covertly, stealthily avoiding public contact due to their nefarious spy mastering, espionage and clandestine liaisons, then why are they standing on the Millennium Bridge surrounded by a massive film crew with cranes, megaphones, spotlights and catering?
Spies, they were much better when I were a lad.
This week I have mostly been listening to:
Soulwax
Most Of The Remixes… [Disc 2]
![Most Of The Remixes… [Disc 2]](http://nelsongalaxy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/most-of-the-remixes-disc-2.jpg)
Doves
Kingdom Of Rust
Art Brut
Alcoholics Unanimous
Joy Division (Warsaw)
Warsaw (Sessions 1977-1980)
Joy Division (Warsaw)
Excite One
Leonard Rosenman
The Lord Of The Rings Soundtrack
I was very sad to learn of the death of JG Ballard at the age of 78. He had been ill for several years, struggling with prostate cancer, and died on Sunday morning. Ballard is one of my favourite authors, penning such classics as ‘The Drowned World’, ‘Concrete Island’ and ‘Crash’. He said his books were, “picturing the psychology of the future”.
Jim Ballard’s most acclaimed novel is probably ‘Empire of the Sun’, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China and filmed by Steven Spielberg. Cronenberg directed an adaptation of ‘Crash’, Ballard’s infamous book about the fetishisation and sexual desires stimulated by car crashes. The film caused media outrage and was banned in many parts of the country.
I am a huge fan of Ballard’s post-apocalyptic visions. As a writer he tackled ecological, technological and psychological catastrophe. There is an underlying feeling of violence in the texture of stories about the cult of the celebrity, the edge-lands of cities, motorways and cars and the rise of CCTV paranoia. He gave science fiction a soul and a conscience and he embodied fear of unknown futures.
‘Ballardian’ dystopian visions have been very influential on modern music. Some of these are good and some not so good:
Joy Division’ 1980 album ‘Closer’ has a song called ‘The Atrocity Exhibition’ – the name of a short story collection.
Klaxons named their debut album ‘Myths of the Near Future’ after Ballard’s short story collection published in 1982.
Radiohead’s 1997 album ‘OK Computer’ includes two songs influenced by Ballard’s worldview.
Manic Street Preachers sampled Ballard on ‘Mausoleum’ from the 1994 album ‘The Holy Bible’.
Suede paid homage to Ballard with the cover image of their B-sides compilation ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’.
Comsat Angels named themselves after a 1960s short story and Empire of the Sun after the novel.
Buggles’ 1979 single ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ is based on the short story ‘The Sound Sweep’.
Hawkwind released a song called ‘High Rise’ on their 1978 album ‘PXR5′, taken from the name of the 1975 novel which is set in a futuristic high-rise building that offers its pampered inhabitants everything they need.
The Tubeway Army song ‘Down In the Park’ is a Ballard-influenced dystopian nightmare and Gary Numan’s 1979 hit ‘Cars’ had themes of technological improvement and alienation.
There are many more. However, rather than watching a film adaptation or listening to band who reference the author, go and read a Ballard novel. We have lost a cult literary genius.
To quote Ballard himself:
“I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit, I wanted to force it to look in the mirror…”
Just lately I have been mostly feeling like a failure and a loser. I have been betrayed and used. I am sick of being a pathetic victim. I am presently carrying out an isolationist policy, that way I cannot be hurt. However, revenge will be sweet, a dish best served hot and spicy. Tether, end of, has been reached so do not get in my way. Wish me luck.
Recently, on the brilliant blog-tastic website of my good buddy and probable big brother Napoleon Fantastic, there was an excellent gag about the new Obama family dog. He titled his small piece on the subject Bo Selected, Bo being the name of the 6-month-old Portuguese Water Dog. I found this to be very comical, capricious and clever.
Early this morning I attempted to replicate this gag in the company of an unlikable colleague. This being an unusual situation of any actual oral communication in the office I thought this merited the effort. So, in a purely work-related setting, I mentioned how absurd and ludicrous it is that the Bo subject generated such paramount and major news coverage.
He mumbled something about the pet being a promised present to Obama’s children if he won the election and that it was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. I heartily joked, “Yes, Bo has well and truly been selected.” He stared at me with disdain and pity. Walking away he made a grotesque hand gesture.
The people in the office already think I am mentally challenged, due to being too much of an enigma and my shyness being mistaken for arrogance, and this does not help my precarious social laboured position.
Proof positive that even a well thought out Nap gag can backfire. Backfire at the Disco? Yes, and in the workplace.
