Ghost Whisperer Redux

The Listener episode 101, “I’m An Adult,” 102, “Emotional Rescue”

Original airdate: March 3, 2009, March 10, 2009 (Canada)

Okay, okay, it’s not quite a rehash of The Ghost Whisperer. But it does fall into the hot-young-person-with-supernatural-powers-just-trying-to-live-a-normal-life franchise. The Listener, a Canadian import, stars Craig Olejnik as Toby Logan, a 20-something paramedic who just happens to be a telepath. At least, that’s what they call it. Really, his super-visions seem more like precognizance or prescience, rather than telepathy. ANYhow, he’s just going along, minding his own business, when POW! He’s struck by a mind-blowing vision that he just HAS to look into! With big dreamy blue eyes! And thoughtful, faraway expressions! Olejnik is a decent actor, and I don’t hold his looks against him. But a series cannot be carrie by dreamy eyes and brooding expressions. 

Furthermore, Toby’s powers suffer from a common ailment among doors on the U.S.S. Enterprise: dramatic convenience-itis. They only work when it is dramatically convenient to do so. And furthermore, Toby only sees however much is necessary to move along the plot, and not enough to get to the bottom of the matter right away. 

I cannot get attached to these characters. They do not catch my interest. The introduction of a foster brother for Olejnik’s character in episode 2 is sadly underused, for instance. There is no real spark there. And  Lisa Marcos’s Detective Charlie Banks is unfortunately underwritten. It’s like sitting on a riverbank, picking petals from a daisy: “She suspects him, she suspects him not. She suspects him…” 

As for the villains… Do the writers have something against underpayed civil servants? I dearly hope that future episodes provide more compelling Bad Guys, because neither of these guys are given anywhere near adequate motives for their actions other than that they’re looney tunes. 

Hopefully it’ll improve. I like dreamy blue eyes.

Doctor Who Rumors

From British tabloid The Sun: 

They will all get wed as Who star David Tennant bows out of the show,

We previously told how all the time-travelling hero’s assistants will return for Tennant’s final scenes on the BBC1 sci-fi hit later this year.

Fans will see Rose Tyler – played by Billie Piper – marry the half-human clone of the Doctor in their parallel universe.

Meanwhile, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) – her replacement as assistant – will tie the knot with Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke).

Tennant will also make a special guest appearance in the CBBC spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures for the wedding of his former companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

 

Executive producer Russell T Davies said: “Viewers thought they may have to wait until November for the next full episode of Doctor Who – but this is an extra special treat.”

 

Comedian Catherine Tate, who plays sidekick Donna Noble, will also reunite with Tennant, 38, for his finale.

He will be replaced in the next series by 26-year-old Matt Smith, who will become the 11th Doctor.

A show source said: “Fans won’t be disappointed by the new Doctor and they’re in for a treat with the new series – which will include the return of the ultra-scary Weeping Angels.”

Meanwhile, we can reveal that Tennant has signed up for even more Doctor Who episodes – as a cartoon.

 

The Scots star has already recorded seven new animated shorts. They will also feature his real-life girlfriend Georgia Moffett, who played the Doctor’s daughter in the 2008 series.

Russell said the six-minute episodes – called Dreamland – will feature “truly exotic aliens and locations, in a beautiful, rich script full of history and imagination”.

He added: “Voice recordings have already been completed – including David Tennant as the Doctor of course.

“And we’re delighted to welcome Georgia Moffett back to the fold.”

 

But Russell said the cartoon series would not see a return for the Doctor’s daughter – as Georgia, 24, will be playing a brand new character called Cassie Rice.

 

The series – which will air on CBBC – will be the second animated Who story to star Tennant.

He appeared in The Infinite Quest two years ago.

Russell will give way to Steven Moffat as the show’s lead writer and executive producer in 2010.

But he hinted at yet ANOTHER outing for Tennant as the Timelord.

He said: “With the Doctor’s appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures as special project one, and the Dreamland animation as special project two, it would be nice to round things off for Doctor Who in 2009 with a special project three. We’re working on it.”

Rumours abound that Russell is working on a Doctor Who movie which could star Tennant.

 

 

Let’s take each of these rumors one at a time:

1. Rose Tyler will marry the half-human Doctor (both last seen in last season’s finale). Perfectly reasonable rumor. As rumors go.
2. Martha Jones will marry Mickey Smith. Here we stray into la-la land. Given that Martha was already engaged to pediatrician Tom Milligan (who we met in season 3′s “The Last of the Time Lords), and she only just met Mickey in “Journey’s End,” this one seems more than a bit absurd. 
3. The Tenth Doctor will show up for Sarah Jane’s wedding. Wedding? And who, pray tell, will she be marrying? The 10th Doctor, rather more sentimental than previous incarnations, might well show up for her wedding… but given that Sarah Jane has not met any prospects thus far, I’m filing this one under “unlikely.” However, Tennant is confirmed for a full-blown appearance midway through the season of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
4. The Weeping Angels make a return. If Russell T. Davies shares writing credit for the specials with Stephen Moffat, it’s possible. If not, then highly unlikely.
5. Russell T. Davies is working on a Doctor Who movie, possibly starring David Tennant. I’ve already heard this rumor from various other sources. Filed under “plausible.” However, it’s less likely that Tennant will be the Doctor if a movie is in the works. 

Also check out the ever-fun Den of Geek for the latest in Doctor Who news. 

And I would like  to say “So long, and thanks for all the fish” to Outpost Gallifrey, one of my favorite sources for news and rumors regarding my favorite television show. You will be missed.

Quote of the Day

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.
BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR.

-Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Remember Tiananmen Square

Today is the anniversary of what the Chinese government euphemistically calls “Political Turmoil between Spring and Summer of 1989.” On this day in 1989, the Chinese military brutally crushed pro-democratic demonstrators in the historic Tian An Men Square in Beijing.

This image, of a man facing down a line of tanks, became symbolic of the event and the awesome odds faced by the protesters. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher voiced a powerful sentiment in an address on June 2:

This day the government of China affirmed to the world that it is a criminal enterprise that is perfectly willing to murder unarmed people in order to stay in power.

Shame on those Communist Party bosses who still 20 years after Tiananmen Square would still massacre advocates of democracy if they would gather in their streets, just as they would massacre Falun Gong members one at a time as they would arrest them, put them into prison, murder them, and would sell their body parts, just as they would murder Tibetan nationalists or Christians or other religious believers. Shame on Beijing. Shame on the people of the world who would treat the Government of Beijing as if it were the same as a democratic government.

June 4 is not just a day of shame for the Beijing regime, however. It is a day of shame for our government as well. Under President Reagan, we made it clear that the United States would continue providing credit, investment, beneficial trade arrangements, and technology transfer as long as China was willing to continue on the path of reform and on the path of making their society more open. Reagan, had he been confronted with Tiananmen Square, would have sent a message: if you send the troops in to massacre these people, the deal is off. You will pay a price.

Do you know what our government did? It wasn’t President Reagan. It was President Herbert Walker Bush. Do you know what his message said? It said nothing because he didn’t send a message, and that was the message the murderers in Beijing needed to hear.

America really doesn’t give a damn about democracy. America doesn’t care about human rights. We care about making a buck, and if you have to slaughter the people at Tiananmen Square, the Americans will never ever protest; they won’t whisper a protest; they won’t cancel contracts, because money is more important to the Americans than freedom.

Well, I’m afraid that did not represent the America that I’m all about. That immorality of siding with a dictatorship, of siding with the gangsters, of siding with the murderers in order to make a short-term profit–that policy–is coming back to haunt us now. That policy has created a monster in Beijing–a powerful, powerful force for evil in this world that we now must confront.

Today marks an anniversary–an anniversary of shame on those who committed the murders, an anniversary of shame on what our reaction was to those murders and to the repression that took place 20 years ago.

Let us send a message to the people of China: We are on their side. Hopefully, if nothing else, this resolution will let them know that, as our people stumble over themselves in trying to make short-term profits by making deals with the gangsters who have oppressed the people of China, there are Americans here who still hold true to the values of Jefferson, of Washington–of our Founding Fathers–and that there are Americans who still hold true to those values that liberty and justice for all is more important than short-term profit gains for American capitalists.

Let me add my voice in defiance against tyranny. My prayers are with those who still labor to bring freedom and democracy to the oppressed in China. God bless.

David Carradine Dead

CNN.com reports that American actor David Carradine, famous for Kung Fu and the Kill Bill duology, among other, has been found dead in a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Carradine, who was born in 1936 in Hollywood, CA, was the son of legendary character actor John Carradine. David Carradine had a career that included hundreds of appearances in film, television, and stage. He was married five times and has two daughters, Calista and Kansas Carradine. Here is how Carradine described his long and somewhat illustrious acting career: 

It’s always seemed to me like a mission. A holy one, like the Blues Brothers. It’s a marathon. You can’t quit; even coming in dead last has honor. Quitting doesn’t. Look, I had absolute faith in my future when I was starving in New York and no one believed in me besides me and my girlfriend. I’d be stupid to lose that faith after I’ve become a [expletive] icon. Oh, yes. And I love the work.

Rest in peace.

More reports at People.com and ew.com. A longer piece can be found at latimes.com.

Quote of the Day

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

-Abba Eban

Compounded Wrongs, No Right

By now, everyone is likely familiar with the slaying of late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller. As a true pro-lifer, I find the act of murder, whether of a helpless baby or of a thoroughly despicable individual, a heinous crime. All life is sacred, and we should do all that is possible to preserve it. The murder of Dr. Tiller is wrong and shall not be condoned by anyone who legitimately calls him or herself pro-life. The following is an excerpt from today’s editorial in the deadtree edition of the Orange County Register:

Whatever one may think of his occupation, the slaying of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller – in church no less – was a heinous and disgusting act. The person who did it and anyone who condoned the act, even indirectly or with a “got what was coming to him” wink and nod, has forfeited the right to be called “pro-life” in any but the most hypocritical fashion. 

Unfortunately, the killing has been used to tar virtually the entire anti-abortion movement and to come close to suggesting that people with certain opinions should just shut up. The American tradition of tolerating free speech – yes, sometimes even offensive free speech – is thereby put in some danger.

[...]

Thus we have a troubled individual who scrambled to find meaning for himself in quasi-political activity and eventually (though it hasn’t been proven in court yet) was able to justify in himself the murder of an abortion-providing doctor.

[...]

Lighten up, people. Strong opinions forcefully expressed are the lifeblood of a free society. Criticize them if you will, but don’t try to eliminate or criminalize them. 

Quote of the Day

Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

-Winston Churchill

Guillermo del Toro on The Hobbit

Guillermo del Toro, the guy behind Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, stopped in Los Angeles and briefly chatted with reporters and fans about his latest project: the two-movies based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s beloved children’s story, The Hobbit. Though he was tapped for director in 2008, the movies aren’t due for release until 2012. Del Toro, however, doesn’t mind the delay, saying, “I wish it took longer even,” according to an article for SciFi Wire. 

Rumors are, of course, flying like rampant all over the place, such as at The Noldor Blog. I wouldn’t mind seeing Legolas or Gimli in the movies, as it is actually reasonable. But given that, at the time The Hobbit is set, Aragorn is all of 10 years old and living in Rivendell under an alias, I do have to wonder about Viggo Mortensen’s presence. Arwen, for her part, was spending the time at her maternal grandmother’s home, Lothlórien. Gimli could very well have come with Dain and the dwarves of the Iron Hills, and it is perfectly believable that Legolas would appear at a banquet in own father’s halls. Heck, they could even have him getting drunk with that elven steward… Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo are all too young to appear. Then again, we don’t know exactly how far these movies are going to cover relative to the books. We’ll just have to wait and see. Doncha love it? 

Be sure to check out TheOneRing.net for all the latest news on the upcoming movies. They have all the good stuff!

Classic Television Fun

If you’re a fan of classic television, then check out Hogan’s Heroes. Starring Bob Crane and Werner Klemperer, it is the story of a group of World War II POWs who also happen to be on a top secret assignment to assist escaping prisoners, gather intelligence, and sabotage the German war effort. Their mission is unwittingly assisted by Colonel Klink, the bumbling and idiotic kommandant of their POW camp (Klemperer), combined with the brilliance and ingenuity of their commanding officer, Colonel Hogan (Crane). Hogan’s Heroes mocks and satirizes stereotypes and many other social issues, though it occasionally falls victim to them itself. While not a perfect series by any stretch, it makes for a good laugh and recalls a time when the good guys always won.

Let the Summer Shows Begin!

So, the regular television season is over. Now, instead of moping over reruns until fall, we can dive right into the fun-fun-fun of the cable summer series! Here are a few to keep watch for:

Mental - Fox, May 26. This show really tries to be a the unloved bastard child of House and The Mentalist. The unfortunate title doesn’t help matters any. At least the British star (Chris Vance) of this show gets to keep his accent! Mental follows the doctors of a mental hospital in LA, particularly their quirky boss (Vance’s character). It’s heart is in the right place, but it really just tries too hard. 

The Listener – NBC, June 4. Craig Olejnik stars as a telepathic paramedic who uses his paranormal abilities to secretly help his patients. I’m getting vibes of The Ghost Whisperer even now! The Listener show has already completed a 13-episode season run in Canada. We’ll see how American audiences receive it. It might do well — the aforementioned Ghost Whisperer is going into its fifth season this fall. Or it might go the way of another supernatural sleuth show, Moonlight, and end up in the dustbin. 

The Closer – TNT, June 8. This cheerful crime dramedy left off with the marriage of Brenda (Kyra Sedgewick) and Fritz (Jon Tenney). Now entering its fifth season, The Closer manages to mix very serious plots with lighthearted humor– and get away with it.

Eureka – SyFy, July 10. Cut short midway through its third season, Eureka finally gets to air the back 10 episodes. This series is a fun, thoroughly enjoyable mix of sci-fi, cop show, comedy, and family drama, and its return is long overdue. Staring Colin Ferguson as the normal guy who finds himself sheriff of the tiny but extraordinary town of Eureka. 

Leverage – TNT, July 15. I absolutely love this Robin Hood-esque show, where a group of crooks of various types, led by one honest (if alcoholic) man (Timothy Hutton), steal, swindle, and otherwise outfox (generally wealthy) badguys. It’s like The A-Team, only with fewer guns and explosions and far more technical savvy. It features a quirky, but not obnoxious, ensemble who make their sometimes outré characters believable. 

Project Runway – Lifetime, August 20. One of the few reality shows I tolerate, Project Runway has been the unfortunate victim of corporate warfare which includes a lawsuit from former network Bravo. In season six, now at a new network and a new city (they moved from New York to LA), hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn can mentor yet another round of aspiring fashion designers.

The Next Doctor’s Next Companion

The BBC recently announced the new Companion to play opposite incoming lead Matt Smith in Doctor Who. 21-year-old Scottish actress Karen Gillan is a relative newcomer to showbiz, but has already appeared once on Doctor Who as a Soothsayer in the season 4 episode, “The Fires of Pompeii.”

In the BBC press release, incoming executive producer and head writer Stephen Moffat says good things for Gillan. 

‘We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too.’

Jon Cooper of The Mirror has nothing but praise for Moffat’s choice of Companion:

“Total unknown” as the Doctor along with a “total unknown” as his companion? The fact is, under the guiding eye of Steven Moffat – the man responsible for some truly stunning TV including Coupling, Jekyll, and some of the finer episodes of Doctor Who itself – “total unknown” seems like one of the most promising prospects I can think of. I’ve got absolutely no idea what direction the 2010 series is going to take, but goshdarnit I’m looking forward to finding out. 

And The Den of Geek has some interesting facts about Gillan, plus a bit of tongue-in-cheek with a list of ten Companions younger than Gillan when they boared the TARDIS.

I am hardly the first person to note Gillan’s red hair. Anyone else remember that the Doctor’s last season-long companion (Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble) also had red hair? Gillan’s character is yet to be named, and I don’t know if said character will be Scottish, or, like outgoing Doctor David Tennant, affecting a different accent.

As Cooper mentions in his article, the term “unknown” as applied to an actor is too often derogatory. I have great faith that the exceptional Stephen Moffat chose the right actors for the TARDIS– unknown or not. 

Hat tip to Outpost Gallifrey!

Quote of the Day

 It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.

-Harry S Truman

Death in the Family

CSI: NY episode 525, “Pay Up”

Original airdate: May 14, 2009

I found only one thing in this episode truly surprising: Eddie Cahill’s intense performance as the grief-stricken Flack. Having just lost his friend and lover, Detective Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier), Flack radiates a deep-set grief without appearing melodramatic or cliché. I liked Sid’s (Robert Joy) meaningful and touching attempt to console him. He says, “How weak and fruitless must be any word of mine,” which come straight out of a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a grieving mother who had just lost her five sons on the field of battle. (See my Quote of the Day for the full text.) It is truly characteristic of the well-educated coroner to quote something so sad and so poetic at a time like this. Honestly, I can’t recall a single scene Joy shares with Cahill prior to this, but their work together here is excellent. That said, I wished there had been a scene with Mac (Gary Sinise) and Flack together, since, of all the team, Mac is intimately familiar with his pain, having lost his wife Claire on September 11, 2001. 

Despite the excellent performances by the actors, however, I found rather large plot holes and confusions:

1. Where is Flack’s and Angell’s lieutenant in all this? As has been previously demonstrated, the entire department knows their relationship, and Flack’s boss lets him stay on duty when he’s clearly grief-stricken and a bit unstable?
2. I get that the bad guys are escaped military bad guys, but where did they get the money necessary to facilitate their actions in this episode? Presumably, they didn’t stiff the guy who outfitted their Hummer, or he wouldn’t have been so blasé. And, as was pointed out in the episode, there had to have been many, many easier targets than Connor Dunbrook (Thad Luckinbill), ones that wouldn’t set the NYPD ablaze. Finally, there is no indication as to the whys and wherefores of their apparent evilness. They are left as strawmen, albeit ones with armored cars and automatic weapons.
3. When the cops storm the warehouse… they let CSIs go in with them?! Seriously, they’re criminalists, not SWAT! I know they’re our main characters, but this is treading dangerously close to CSI: Miami waters.

Did Flack execute the last remaining badguy? I think so. Should he be punished? Certainly. Will he be punished? Almost certainly not. Should he have been in that situation in the first place? Absolutely, emphatically, not.

Quote of the Day

Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts:
  DEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln.

Mob Hits

Castle episode 110, “A Death in the Family”

Original airdate: May 11, 2009

All the previews did a very good job at making us think that Castle (Nathan Fillion) gets shot. Kudos to them, nice misdirect. But annoying, nonetheless. No, our victim in this case is Mr. FeeBee from last episode, Bailey Chase’s Will Sorensen, who is escorting a mob enforcer turned government witness. 

I was unimpressed with the case. Mob stories are old and overdone, and the characters featured here barely spiked my interest. I could not find myself surprised with the identity of the murderer here. (Seriously, was anyone for a second convinced that the overdone plastic surgery addict could have killed the surgeon in such a way?) I was far more curious about the B and C storylines: Alexis (Molly C. Quinn) going to prom and Castle’s (Nathan Fillion) ongoing interest in Beckett’s (Stana Katic) mother’s murder. We have some sweet, wistful remarks about parenthood from both Castle and Martha (Susan Sullivan). 

I smiled when I spotted Robert Picardo as Clark Murray, the best forensic pathologist in the city. Castle, in his well-meaning interference, hands over the file on the Beckett murder and learns something shocking. Of course, everyone (except for the characters) knew it was a hit, but he learns something else, too. But they don’t tell us what! Ooooh, such a cruel world this is! I hope Castle is renewed, because it is my second favorite new show this season (behind CBS’s The Mentalist).

Lileks Star Trek Review

From lileks.com:

Bottom line: Loved it. Loved it, loved it. O I loved it. Except for the moments not seen because I was out on the aforementioned errand, I loved it all. The opening was just a big shovel of chocolate for the fans - been a while since you saw something with NCC on the hull fire phasers and get hit with torpedos and generally blow the hell up, eh? Here. On the house. And it’s emotional, too – thus was Odysseus born!

[...]

I’m not a purist; it would be a ridiculous thing to be. A purist would have to worry about things like starships with vector-graphics on their displays. A purist would have to live with things like Worf having an opinion about Cole Porter. I think DS9 is better than TNG, overall, the last season of Enterprise was as good as Trek got, and Voyager was often better than people remember in the latter years, even though the entire show squandered the opportunities of its premise. It did have one interesting two-parter about a man who prowls through timeon a giant spaceship  destroying planets, but that’s neither here nor there.

No, this wasn’t for purists. This was the effort of some talented people who got the original idea at the subatomic level, and said “It’s ours now. Here we go.” 

Read the full, ridiculously hilarious review here. It is mostly spoiler-free for those of you who haven’t seen it yet. On a side note, Star Trek did fantastic in theaters over the weekend, with its final tally bringing in $79.2 million dollars from Thursday to Sunday, exceeding box office expectations — Paramount had guessed that it would make about $50 million opening weekend. SciFiWire has more here. 

Quote of the Day

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

-Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness), Star Wars

Listening to Yourself

House episode 524, “Both Sides Now”

Original airdate: May 11, 2009

The lesson to be learned here is, as I said in the title for this post, to listen to yourself. For the Patient of the Week, who has a split brain and a crazy left hand, it means discovering the source of his affliction. For Chase (Jesse Spencer), it means realizing the truth behind Cameron’s (Jennifer Morrison) reluctance to marry him. For House (Hugh Laurie), it means a sudden and horrifying realization about what really happened when he started detoxing from Vicodin last week. 

Admirably performed and edited is the sequence in which House realizes that he hallucinated the entire night he had sex with Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). It is absolutely horrible to go mad and realize what is happening to you. It culminates with cameos by two dead ducklings Amber (Anne Dudek) and Kutner (Kal Penn), to demonstrate clearly to House that he has well and truly lost it. Wilson drives him to the psychiatric hospital where he checks himself in. How will this be resolved come next season? The show is called House, after all, not “Princeton-Plainsboro Diagnostics Department.”

We get to see Cameron and Chase happily married, though how this will affect their professional lives remains to be seen. Whether or not it will work out or crash and burn once the initial bloom wears off is also unclear. Chase, for his part, seems determined to make it work. I stand by my previous statements that if this relationship fails, it will be Cameron’s fault. 

It’s going to be a long few months, so I leave you with a few questions to ponder: How will House recover from his breakdown? How can he possibly trust himself again? Does Cuddy actually love him? Will House meet Wilson’s brother on the inside?

To Boldly Go

I like this ship! It’s exciting!

To say that Star Trek has been hotly anticipated is a gross understatement. Ever since that first trailer came out (you remember it, the one with the Enterprise under construction), fans have been debating, arguing, and nailbiting about whether J.J. Abrams could reignite an apparently tired and flagging franchise while simultaneously remaining faithful to the rich background provided by five series and ten feature films. 

I am here to say that Abrams has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams at creating the most exciting and downright fun Star Trek film ever, but also making it accessible and enjoyable to non-Trekkies (or Trekkers, or whatever you call yourselves). It reunites the original crew, played by fresh actors (which makes the whole “I know your face” gag pretty funny) and aboard a brand-new starship that is half Apple store and half Victorian steamship. Chris Pine does a fine turn as the womanizing and rather egotistical young Jim Kirk, and Zachary Quinto is priceless as a conflicted and passionate Spock. But I would also like to commend Simon Pegg for stealing his every scene as Scotty and Karl Urban for his exceptional comedic timing as “Bones” McCoy:

Damn it, I’m a doctor, not a physicist!

Star Trek has more than enough to satisfy the long-time fans, from the tribble on Scotty’s desk to Admiral Archer’s missing beagle (!) to Sulu’s (John Cho) swordplay. 

Abrams makes excellent use of the dramatic silence of space at certain points, such as when an unfortunate crewmember gets sucked out through a hull breach. Everything goes quiet. There’s a hush. And then– BAM! The audience is thrown back into the action. The score by Michael Giacchino is beautiful and memorable, without distracting from the movie itself. 

The movie does have its faults, relying on bizarre coincidence and unlikely plot devices. Among them are: Starfleet brass hand over the keys to their shiny new flagship to a 25-year-old kid; the disaster that sends Nero (Eric Bana) over the edge (a supernova?!); the apparent utter passivity of the Vulcans to their predicament; and the Nerada coming out of its black hole (!) right in front of the U.S.S. Kelvin, which just happens to be the ship on which Kirk’s father George (Chris Hemsworth) is stationed. 

But I will say this: Point. Defense. Phasers. Oh, yes. Starfleet finally figured out how to blow up incoming missiles!

Indeed, Star Trek clearly demonstrates the supremacy of the geeks: for instance, Chekov uses his whiz-kid skills to save Kirk and Sulu; Scotty engineers a way for Kirk (and he himself) to get to the Enterprise, and Spock gets the girl! Good job!

I highly recommend Star Trek to all viewers, male and female, young and old. It is exciting, thrilling, and absolutely fabulous. And don’t wait for it to come out on DVD– this joyride is best savored in extra-huge, high-definition, surround sound theater.

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Godspeed, Enterprise.