Tag Archive: jj abrams


Star Trek Into Darkness

Filed under: Cinema by thefriedgold — Leave a comment
May 15, 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Directed by J.J. Abrams

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and Benedict Cumberbatch

star-trek-into-darkness-poster

 

 

A terror threat from within Starfleet is causing havoc with the organisation so Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise must find him before it is too late.

I love J.J’s first Star Trek and was very excited about seeing this latest incarnation and what it might have in store and I was not disappointed.

The regular crew members of the Enterprise are all on form and once again the actors play the characters brilliantly and the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain is just genius. He’s a very strong, scary character and is a perfect adversary for Kirk and Spock to take on. Each character has their own starring part in the film to make them stand out from the rest and Urban’s Bones has some of the classic lines we know and love. The film looked visually amazing and the classic music gives you a warm happy feeling inside. Having seen this in IMAX 3D I must say that some of the scenes looked brilliant in 3D and some of the best ive ever seen.

The introduction of some classic villians such as the Klingons could easily lead to potential story lines in future films as well as some other characters that made appearances. The Enterprise jumping to warp effect that was used looked amazing and put a smile on my face every time.

Will there be a third in the series, and if so will it be directed by the Star Wars bound J.J. We can only hope.

 

Recommend

The film was a fun thrill ride through space showing the levels of friendship that have grown within the crew. Pine and Cumberbatch were fantastic together on screen and the script was brilliant and fresh all while keeping faith with the hardcore trekkies. If you enjoyed the first one then you will also love this. Catch it at the cinema while you can because I want to talk about it with everyone.

TheFriedGold rating 9/10 – Maximum warp. Punch it.

 

Film Fact

Edgar Wright got people talking when he tweeted that he had filmed a shot for a big film this summer. Everyone thought it was going to be something Marvel related due to his future involvement. However it turned out that he had been involved in a shot with the Klingons in this film

 

 

 

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Is J.J. the director we were looking for?

Filed under: Film News by thefriedgold — 2 Comments
January 25, 2013

So the news coming from across the pond is that J.J. Abrams has been selected to take on the directing duties for Star Wars Episode VII even though it was only a few weeks ago that he was ruling himself out of it.
I think this is fantastic news given J.J.’s track record of Alias, Lost, Fringe and then turning to films like Cloverfield, Mission Impossible, Super 8 and taking the reins of Star Trek on the big screen. This man seems to have a golden touch and is probably the best possible person to work on bringing Star Wars back to its original roots. His work with Star Trek was fantastic, yes he might have changed the history of Kirk and the Enterprise crew by creating an alternate timeline but by doing this he helped create a new fan base by giving it a refresh while at the same time keeping so much in for the original hard-core Trekkies.
Not just with Star Trek but with his other work he cared about the audience and wants to please them/us so I don’t see why Star Wars would be any different. We will obviously have new characters, stories, and I’m sure some good old J.J. camera flare shots but he will also include aspects of the Star Wars history, and returning characters, to keep everyone happy.
One person who I imagine is ecstatic by this news will be Simon Pegg. As a massive self-confessed Star Wars geek I’m sure he will be hoping to team up with J.J. once again and get a role in the film having worked with him in two Mission Impossible films and two Star Trek films.

The only negative that could arise from this is what will happen to the futures of Mission Impossible and more importantly Star Trek? Given there has been a 4 year gap between Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness we could see the same sort of wait for Star Trek 3 meaning a 2017 release giving plenty of time for Star Wars.
However I think we can all agree now, and we didn’t want to believe it, that J.J. Abrams is indeed our father. YYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

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Alcatraz (2012)

Filed under: Sky/Television by kelvbrown — 2 Comments
February 1, 2012

San Francisco, present day. A homicide investigation puts Detective Rebecca Madsen on the trail of a killer who is also being hunted by the FBI. The only trouble is this killer was incarcerated inAlcatraz, back in 1963. Who is he, why is here and how do the FBI know about it?

I’m two episodes in andAlcatrazfeels like a blend of recent high-end American TV shows. Split between 1963 and present day, Alcatraz is stylistically the same as Lost and shares a lot of characteristics – the story hook (why are people in a time or place they shouldn’t be) the split timeline, the look, Jorge Garcia (channelling Hurley but adding a greater degree of intellect), the producers, Michael Giacchino (instead of a deep whoosh for transitions between present and past a la Lost, now we have the clanking of a prison door for the same effect) and even the first inmate looks like Matthew Fox. Cross this with Fringe with the inmates doubling as monster-of-the-week and that’s where we are.

Sam Neill is here, as the FBI agent in charge who may have a grudge, but he is always good value. Otherwise there is nothing to make Alcatraz stand above recent TV fare, nothing that is radically different that has left me eagerly anticipating the next episode. I’ll give it 6 episodes and see what happens from there but currently it feels too similar to other shows to get me to make the investment required to watch a show like this.

If you like this then maybe try:

Lost (JJ Abrams original cross time behemoth), Fringe (there is a conspiracy, there are parallel worlds, a solo female lead detective trying to piece it all together), Prison Break (if you like prison drama through a mainstream American lens, this is the one for you)

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Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)

Filed under: The Video Vault by thefriedgold — Leave a comment
October 10, 2011

Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)

Directed by Dominic Sena

Starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi

 

 

A retired car thief has to return to what he does best to help out his little brother who has got into some trouble.

What’s not to enjoy about this film, apart from Jolie’s choice of hair style. You have lots of action, fast cars and Vinnie Jones not talking (until the end) mixed in with some humour.

Based on the original from 1974 this film just brings a bit of fun to the screen for people to enjoy. It was never made to win awards; you just watch it for what it is. Now i agree that sometimes Mr Cage isn’t always the best actor however i do enjoy the action films he stars in like The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off and Gone In 60 Seconds follows in the same mould.

I am also a big fan of Timothy Olyphant in anything he stars in.

If you haven’t seen this then you should. If you have I’m sure you are the same as me and can easily have this film on in the background while doing other bits and pieces.

 

Film Fact

After some disagreements with the director about the re-writing process, Scott Rosenberg left the project. The writers Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams came in and did un-credited re-writes on the script.

 

 

 

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