Thursday 23 May 2013

"Star Trek Into Darkness" & "Oblivion"

So far, 2013 has been a good year for science fiction. On Sunday we went to the cinema to see the new Star Trek film. I've not much to add, the film has great reviews and deserves them, it is really well done, I was happy to pay the 3D premium. Go if you can.



Earlier this year we saw "Oblivion". I was very impressed, my partner she enjoyed it but not so much. Me, I thought it was a good story but the visuals, the concepts, the mise en scene, were what impressed me. I love buildings like these. Very stylish for post-apocalypse Earth.




We have two more to look forward to - "After Earth" with the Smith family and zombie fest "World War Z" - in the next few weeks. Can't wait.

The Brits in Hollywood continue to impress me. These two films have a couple of really good performances. Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek (along with Simon Pegg) and Andrea Risborough in Oblivion, wow, together with performances from Karl Urban and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, these are very international casts which is good to see. (This paragraph is pro-Brit, it is NOT anti-American, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldano,  Morgan Freeman, good solid performances the director can build a film on.)

A word about Tom Cruise. I know some people who will not see a Tom Cruise film, I cannot understand this. It seems they don't like his personal life-style religious choices, the details of which seem to be based on reports in cheap tabloid journalism. That is a shame. This year I have seen two really good films with him in the lead, "Oblivion " and "Jack Reacher". As I say to people, go see the films for yourself, Cruise makes good, entertaining films, don't rely on cheap journos who are desperate to sell glossy magazines.

Another word, this time about J J Abrams. I see he has taken on the Star Wars franchise. After seeing the new Star Treks and being a fan of the TV series "Fringe", this is good news, I look forward to the new films.

Music playing whilst I write this note - Mahler VI Symphony with Pierre Boulez conducting the Vienna Phil on DG.

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