Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Though I may not have been as enthusiastic as I could have been about my first viewing of "Star Trek: Into Darkness" back in May (see my original review), my love for that film has only grown with each repeated viewing.

However, yesterday's 3:30 PM screening at my local multiplex seems to have been the last showing of ST XII in the Nashville area for the foreseeable future, unless it comes back to the second-run discount theater later on. So, I'm glad I was able to see it on the big screen, one last time, with a pretty good-sized audience of fellow Trek fans.

I only wish I'd had MORE opportunities to see this latest Trek film in the theaters, since I would happily have PAID to see this film at least as many times as I did last summer's "The Avengers", if only it had stuck around as long. As it is, I guess six times will have to suffice me, until it comes out on DVD.

In other film news, I also took in the following films over the past several weeks (brief review notes included -- no spoilers!):

"Despicable Me 2" -- Saw this yesterday afternoon as well, and laughed heartily at many points, as did the other adults seated near me. I'm not sure how it plays with kids, but grown-ups get many a good giggle out of it.

"The Heat" -- I saw this on July 2nd, right after my 5th viewing of ST XII, and though I got a number of laughs out of it, I'm very glad I didn't spend any more money on it, no matter how much I've enjoyed the talents of the two main actresses in their previous movie work (Sandra Bullock) or their television work (Melissa McCarthy, specifically on "Gilmore Girls"). Maybe it's just because I recently re-read the Thomas Harris novels Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal that I found the sexist discrimination against and demeaning treatment of Bullock's FBI agent character so very UN-funny, but nothing about this film felt particularly liberating or celebratory of the strengths of women in law enforcement or of female friendships. I'd rather go back and re-watch my "Xena: Warrior Princess" DVDs, if I want to see a REAL female action hero buddy pairing.

"Epic" -- I watched this visually STUNNING piece of animation between my 3rd and 4th viewings of ST XII back on June 25th, and I found it quite entertaining in terms of plot and character. However, what I liked most about it was that it reminded me VISUALLY of classic, vintage Hayao Miyazaki quality of animation, as well as sharing an ecological concern often found in Miyazaki's work. The music and character development may not have been quite up to mature Miyazaki standards, but I'd happily pay full price to see it again on the big screen, just to feast my eyes.

"Fast & Furious 6" -- I managed to catch a screening of this one right after my 2nd "Trek" viewing after church on May 26th, and I was a little disappointed. I was looking forward to the 'old gang' from "Fast 5" getting back together again, this time with Dwayne Johnson's Federal Marshal being on-board with Vin Diesel's group of lovable con artists and car thieves from the get-go. Yes, it was good to see Letty alive again, but . . . . Well, given the way it worked out in the end, and the cost in terms of other characters being sacrificed to make room for her or for other reasons, I'm not sure it was worth the price paid for getting most of the old gang from the very first film back to where they started. Also, I didn't like the foreshadowing about the villain in the NEXT film in this series, since he's an actor I'd much rather see in a heroic role whenever possible. *Pout*