Star Trek into my eyes and brain, man!

Star Trek Into Darkness has been in theaters since Wednesday night. Amazingly, I have not seen it yet, though I plan on addressing that Saturday afternoon. 

While I would not have called myself a Star Trek fan — Trekker, Trekkie or whatever — one who devotedly watched all the TV shows and movies, I absolutely loved J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot.

The film did a perfect job of reinventing itself for a new audience while taking pains to reach out to the longtime fans who could make or break the project with their approval. It did what reboots and prequels should do: Tell the story that hasn't been told. For all we know about Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise, we'd never seen how the band got together. 

To me, this is best typified by the scene embedded below. The Enterprise is an iconic figure in Star Trek mythos and pop culture. Tribute had to be paid to that ship in this new version.

Abrams does it so well here. There's the slow build-up with Dr. McCoy seeing the ship through the window and telling Kirk he had to take a look. We see their reaction. And then there's the reveal with Michael Giacchino's fucking awesome score kicking in. It's probably my favorite scene in the movie, one that I've watched and rewatched dozens of times. 

When I traveled to Malaysia last year, I had two movies on my iPad: Star Trek and Iron Man 2. (I also watched a bunch of movies on in-flight programming, but that's another blog post and entry into The Malaysia Diaries.) 

While watching Star Trek, I played the Enterprise intro scene over and over again. If the person sitting behind me was trying to watch over my shoulder or between seats, he or she must have wondered what the hell I was doing and when I'd begin watching the rest of the movie. Sorry about that. You're just lucky I kept my pants on as the scene was playing. 

But the visuals and music just blow me away every time. It's perfect, it's awesome and I'm getting the geek jitters just writing about it. Will Star Trek Into Darkness have a moment like this? 

What I also enjoyed is that Abrams injected some action into his version of Star Trek. In my view, most of the action in the movies was always passive, with characters talking at each other through viewscreens and massive starships lurching at each other in space. Abrams gave his Star Trek an energy that I'd always felt the series lacked. (Many fans might disagree.) 

So I'm definitely excited to see the sequel and watch Abrams continue his revitalization. I'm heading off to the theater right after clicking "Publish." 

Ender's Game: When to give up and just wait for the movie

My friend A. has been on me for years — years — to read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. 

I've purchased it. The novel taunts me from my bookshelf. I know it's a classic. I know I should read it.

Even a cashier at Greenlife (which is a local version of Whole Foods — at least it was until Whole Foods bought it, so now it's basically a Whole Foods) has gotten on my case to read Ender's Game.

She was one of those excessively talky cashiers who's nice to encounter when you're in a mood to have a conversation but annoying when you just want to buy your shit and get out of the store.

The first time, she asked me how I was doing; I asked her how she was doing. She told me she was happy because she just finished Ender's Game. I admitted I hadn't read it, which prompted a gasp and a finger-wag. 

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"You should read it," she said.

"I know," I said. "I've been meaning to for years." 

"You will not regret it."

I went home, reminded myself that A. has been telling me to read Ender's Game for years and rationalized that she might be hurt or a little pissed that I finally decided to start reading a book because a total stranger asked me to, rather than following the recommendation of a dear friend. 

So I didn't open the book. Out of consideration to A., who's only been telling me to read Ender's Game probably since I first met her. I think that was more than 15 years ago. 

Now a movie adaptation of the book is coming out. It's set for a Nov. 1 release. 

On one hand, that still gives me plenty of time to read the book. I always feel like a better person if I've read the source material before seeing an adaptation. Maybe so I can just say, "Ah, the book was better." As if anyone wouldn't guess that response. 

But honestly, as a writer, I'm fascinated by adaptation from book to movie. What did the screenwriters cut out of the story for time purposes? Are the characters any different? Above all, was the movie faithful to the book even if it didn't follow every word of the text? 

Over the years, however, I've come to believe such things might take me out of the movie-watching experience. Am I really enjoying the movie for what it is if I'm too busy thinking about the book? 

Of course, that's surely just a lazy rationalization for not reading. 

At this point, maybe I should just wait for the movie and judge that on its own merits. (By the way, that includes not holding a grudge against the film — or the book — because of Card's abhorrent views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.) 

That approach worked out for me fine with Game of Thrones. A. has also nudged me many times to give George R.R. Martin's books a whirl, but I just never got around to it. Then HBO came along to help me out. Now A. and I can talk about the series!

Unfortunately, I haven't watched a single episode of Season 3 yet. And we're eight episodes in, with only two left to go. 

I am a terrible friend. 

The Rock, not at his best

I hated Stephen Sommers' "Mummy" films. They were soulless CGI crapfests and Indiana Jones knockoffs. 

Just look at this scene from The Mummy Returns involving The Scorpion King. He happened to be played by The Rock, making his screen debut.

Well, sort of. His likeness was there, but the actual Dwayne Johnson wasn't. Unless he was running after Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo in a motion-capture suit. 

Anyway, look how bad these CGI effects were. To be fair, the movie came out in 2001 and digital effects have come a long, long way in the past 12 years. But still... yeesh.

Did I already say soulless CGI crapfest? Ray Harryhausen could do scorpions so much better with his stop-motion creations. 

I also hated Sommers' "Mummy" movies because they had absolutely no resemblance to Universal's original Mummy film starring Boris Karloff. I was a big fan of the Universal monster flicks as a kid and was excited to see them remade, only to see Sommers ruin them with his schlock. Van Helsing probably drove the final stake in the coffin. 

Fortunately for him, The Rock escaped this humble debut and has become an international superstar, conquering both the professional wrestling and motion picture industries. 

How did this come up? Yahoo! Sports Dr. Saturday is doing a series on college football players who became famous. Did you know The Rock was once a defensive tackle for the University of Miami Hurricanes? Not being a football star ended up working out pretty well for him. 

What would movie special effects be without Ray Harryhausen?

I don't know if I could go so far as to call myself a Ray Harryhausen fan. I didn't deliberately seek out the films he worked on, study his career or anything like that.

However, he was responsible for the stop-motion monster effects on one of my favorite childhood movies, the original Clash of the Titans. 

I don't think I'll ever forget Perseus' fight with Medusa. The creature creeping in the dark — with the tentacles on her head writhing as she shot that lethal bow and arrow — had Young Ian shaking in his seat. 

Here's a YouTube clip with the scenes edited together. 

I'll also never forget Medusa's blood pouring out, which seemed like so much tomato sauce. 

Another scene I remember involved the giant scorpions. Between those monsters, Bubo the mechanical owl and the demonic Calibos, there was a lot for Harryhausen and his team to put on screen. It was pulled off masterfully, though.

Seriously — does anyone prefer the Louis Leterrier remake with its CGI effects to Harryhausen's stop-motion wizardry? Of course, the new one has Liam Neeson...

Actually, I can call myself a Ray Harryhausen fan if I got excited when I noticed that a restaurant in Monsters Inc. was called Harryhausen's, right? 

Ray Harryhausen passed away today at the age of 92. Rest in peace, sir. 

Iron Man, Iron Man does whatever an iron can

Yes, I do believe this is how I'll be spending my Saturday afternoon.

If only The Ramones could have recorded that tune, as they did with the original Spider-Man cartoon theme song. This could've been even cooler. 

At the very least, it's better than the theme from the 1990s Iron Man cartoon.

I wonder if Robert Downey Jr. saw that and worried that he would have to grow a ridiculous mullet to play Tony Stark?

OK, let's end this with a classic.

What's bigger in 'Pain and Gain'? Mark Wahlberg's biceps or nostrils?

I am truly eager to see Mark Wahlberg’s flared nostrils on the big screen this weekend in Pain and Gain. 

That is acting. Did Wahlberg's nostrils get that big in The Departed? I know they didn't in Shooter, since I just watched that a week or so ago. 

Here's the TV spot that I pulled that screencap from. 

If you're interested in reading the original three articles by Pete Collins that the movie is based on, all three are archived at the Miami New Times website.

Movie review: 42

In getting back to blogging here, I wanted to write some movie reviews again.

The good news is that I wrote one. The bad news (well, not really) is that my review for the new Jackie Robinson movie, 42, is at my new baseball writing home, The Outside Corner. 

We do get an idea of what made Robinson special, how he was able to keep a stiff upper lip and reign in his emotions in the face of horrifying racial prejudice and hatred. The movie would be an utter failure otherwise. (Just in case you don't comprehend when Robinson might be viewed as heroic, the camera tilted upward at him and the swelling strings of the musical score lets you know.)  

Much of the credit for that should go to Chadwick Boseman, who portrays Robinson. I had never seen him in anything else before, but after this performance, we'll surely be seeing more of him on the big and small screens. Boseman's Robinson comes across as defiant, stoic, quietly angry and, perhaps most importantly, charismatic. 

I love when two things I love collide, so it was fun to write about a baseball movie at my new gig. Otherwise, I probably would've written a review here, but it was nice to go to a movie "for work" last night. 

Overall, I wouldn't call 42 a great movie, but it's a good one. I'll always wonder what Spike Lee's Robinson biopic (starring Denzel Washington) would've been like. However, I'm glad to see Robinson's story portrayed on screen, even if it left me wanting more. 

Wolverine supporting the Wolverines

Wolverine cheering for the Michigan Wolverines as they take on Syracuse in the NCAA tournament's Final Four tonight is almost too much joy for me to handle. Worlds colliding gloriously!

Here's the tweet from Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman:

This is Wolverine saying "c'mon univ. of mich wolverines!!! This is your year. Trey...crush it BUB! #thewolverine#FinalFour @umichbball

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) April 5, 2013

Go Blue!