Movie Reviews
Captain's Log #16
A mysterious probe (yes, another one) turns up on Earth's doorstep and begins freaking out when it is unable to make contact with Earth's whales. Whales are extinct in the 23rd century, and it's up to Kirk and his pals (onboard a stolen Klingon starship) to travel back in time and bring some back to the future if the probe is to be prevented from destroying the Earth.
Aussierocket #5: The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
Today Barry Humphries is known primarily as the alter-ego of purple-haired media queen Dame Edna Everage, but it should be remembered that he was also responsible for the altogether less-annoying character Barry McKenzie - a larrikin-ish Australian stereotype who originated in a comic strip aimed at British audiences. This film, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, was the first Australian movie to make a million dollars, and helped kickstart the modern Australian film industry as a result (prior to the 1970s our industry had been a poor cousin of the BBC).
Captain's Log #15
As the title of film succinctly puts it, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is all about Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew returning to the terraformed planet from the last film in an effort to find Spock. Spock's father Sarek (Mark Lenard) tells Kirk that Spock's katra (spirit/essence) needs to be returned to Vulcan, so the Enterprise crew must defy Starfleet orders and return to Project Genesis.
Captain's Log #14
Here 'tis, the most hallowed and revered of all Trek films, that mighty harpoon-chompiong whale of a film, scourge of the '80s, celluloid hero of Trekkies everywhere, the rough-edged gem that even the most un-Trekified of people have to admire, a monument to William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and big pectoral muscles... yes indeed, it's the one and only THE WRATH OF KHAN.
Synopsis
Admiral Kirk takes command of the Enterprise once again (this time with a crew of trainees) while the genetically engineered fascist Khan Noonien Singh (a former adversary) comes after him for revenge.
Ruby Sparks
I have to admit that I do love a good "quirky" romantic comedy. And when I was wasting copious amounts of time on YouTube and found the trailer for Ruby Sparks, I was keen to watch it. I think I fell in love with this genre right after 500 Days of Summer. And although Ruby Sparks does not reach the standard that 500 Days of Summer set, it was a good enough effort for me to be pleased.
As I watched Ruby Sparks I felt that maybe this was a little too similar to 500 Days of Summer. There is an uncanny resemblance of the lead characters of Summer and Ruby.
Captain's Log #13
Moving on from the Animated Series, today's Captain's Log takes us into the Star Trek feature films - the franchise wonderbus that brought Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy and all those other duffers to the big screen. It's arguably these feature films that are responsible for the franchise's ongoing popularity and life force, and I have to say that it's these films that first brought me to Star Trek.
Synopsis
Some time has passed since the famous five-year voyage undertaken by Captain Kirk on the Enterprise (as seen in the '60s TV series of Star Trek).
A Dangerous Method
Synopsis
1904, Switzerland, and it's the birth of psychoanalysis as we know it... Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) work to link the twisting of our minds to the way we perceive and react to sex, setting the stage for a clash of ideologies for the ages. Jung wants to pursue mysticism and other speculative areas outside of science, whereas Freud holds fast to the cold facts of science.
AUSSIEROCKET #4: THE COCA-COLA KID
This is a great, underrated '80s movie that also stars the great, underrated Eric Roberts (brother of Julia). It's directed by Dusan Makavejev, a Serbian filmmaker who came to fame via the semi-pornographic and political art film WR: Mysteries of the Organism. Apparently The Coca-Cola Kid is Makavejev's most mainstream film and it's pretty standard stuff as far as entertaining '80s films go, there are only one or two small aspects that hint at Makavejev's artsy background (EG. The film's unashamed attitude towards sex and nudity, and the bizarre punchline that the film ends on).
Roberts (fresh off his critically-acclaimed work in The Pope of Greenwich Village...
The Killer Elite
Synopsis
The Stath plays a grumbly assassin in this international action film set in the politically-volitale atmosphere of the early 1980s. Danny (the Stath) decides to retire when he almost kills a kid in a routine hit down Mexico way. Fast-forward to a year later and his former colleague Hunter (Robert De Niro) has been kidnapped by a middle eastern Sheikh. From here, Danny finds himself called out of retirement and manipulated into a new mission where he must dispatch a trio of dodgy SAS agents if he wants to save Hunter's life.
Aussierocket #3: Cedar Boys
"Look at him, he thinks he's Tony Montana"
Synopsis
Tarek (Les Chantery) is a second-generation Lebanese-Australian who dreams of owning his own mechanic business and breaking away from the stereotypical Lebanese club scene. His father is working himself to an early grave as a taxi driver, his brother is in prison, and Tarek himself is working for a dickhead who orders him around. He baulks at an opportunity to make some cash off stolen drugs, but when family and peer pressures sway him to take the plunge he finds himself living a temporary high life - paying for his brother's legal fees and impressing his new Anglo-Australian girlfriend.
I have sensitive knees.
