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nausicaa83It's the longest day of the year, my favourite one! And yet, sadly, this morning my iPod, my good ol' G-ERTI, had a technical malfunction. Probably my fault for giving it that name. Anyway, the volume thingy got stuck (yes, I am a creature of immense mechanical aptitude too), and according to the website it would cost at least 100 euros to get it fixed. In other words, new iPod. I ordered one from the website, so that I could have the engraving too. Pictures to follow when it gets here, probably on monday morning.
In the afternoon I wore my Tony Stark shirt and went to the cinema to see Star Trek Into Darkness, because here in Italy it came out last week. And yet I had managed to avoid any and all spoilers, go me. By the way, I chose the Tony Stark shirt because I don't have a Star Trek one, and that's appalling, considering I've loved Star Trek since I was 11. RedBubble, here I come.
Spoiler-free review! I loved it. I absolutely loved it. The first part was good, but nothing special, but the second part was fantastic, and made me cry and jump in my seat and feel like a kid again, watching the original series on my old tv (the one that exploded - long story). There are only two major flaws that I can see (well, three, but the third is a huge spoiler, so it goes under the cut): first, that annoying, completely pointless shot of Carol in her underwear. It had no reason to be there, except that she has boobs and we need to see them. And it makes even less sense considering that she's a competent, smart character with a compelling storyline. So what the hell. The second flaw is that we didn't really get to learn enough of John Harrison's past. I'm not asking for flashback, just a couple of dialogues more would have helped with understanding other characters' reactions to him.
Also, Benedict Cumberbatch was extraordinary. I mean, I already knew he was good, he is one of my favourite actors for a reason, but here he was... absolutely incredible. Way above the other actors, who are all really good. He's just completely on a league of his own. Holy shit. And I watched the dubbed version (an amazing Simone D'Andrea, who really managed to re-create his speech patterns), I can only imagine what the original version must be. My head will probably explode.
Okay, the third flaw is, Khan isn't white. Benedict is extraordinary, and he makes a fantastic, unique Khan, but the iconic movie roles for PoCs are so few it's embarassing for the human race, and taking one of the most important characters in science fiction history and giving it to a whiter than white actor is really, really bad. This is Katniss all over again. At least this time it's an evil, racist mass murderer, not a heroine. But still.
Back to the positive, I can't believe they put the glass scene in. The "this is what slash means" scene. And they reversed it. And they took my poor little heart, squeezed it off my chest, and left me there sobbing in my seat. I also loved that they showed Uhura and Kirk being friends, trying to talk Spock into showing that he cares for them. That both his best friend and his girlfriend are on the same level to him, and that's perfectly normal. That, and the male heroes crying, more than once, and that being perfectly normal too. Yessss. I like my characters human and realistic, not macho robots, thank you very much. And Uhura has a lot more scenes and even faces a bunch of Klingons all alone, armed only with her knowledge and wits, you go girl!
And what most of all I adored was the message of the movie. War = bad. Yes, even if they attack us first. Even if they do terrorist attacks. Because war means innocent people getting killed, and that's unacceptable, period. And that's what Star Trek was all about, what made me love it so fiercely back when I was a kid: that they were explorers, not soldiers. That they had a spaceship, and they used it to travel, to meet new people, to LEARN. Not to kill, plant flags nor destroy foreign cultures. That even if Khan is a terrorist, even if he is a murderer, he doesn't get to be executed without a trial, while nobody cares if they start a war in the process. That's WRONG. And that's why this movie, even with its flaws, deserves all the praise I can give. ♥
And now, off to dinner! \o/
In the afternoon I wore my Tony Stark shirt and went to the cinema to see Star Trek Into Darkness, because here in Italy it came out last week. And yet I had managed to avoid any and all spoilers, go me. By the way, I chose the Tony Stark shirt because I don't have a Star Trek one, and that's appalling, considering I've loved Star Trek since I was 11. RedBubble, here I come.
Spoiler-free review! I loved it. I absolutely loved it. The first part was good, but nothing special, but the second part was fantastic, and made me cry and jump in my seat and feel like a kid again, watching the original series on my old tv (the one that exploded - long story). There are only two major flaws that I can see (well, three, but the third is a huge spoiler, so it goes under the cut): first, that annoying, completely pointless shot of Carol in her underwear. It had no reason to be there, except that she has boobs and we need to see them. And it makes even less sense considering that she's a competent, smart character with a compelling storyline. So what the hell. The second flaw is that we didn't really get to learn enough of John Harrison's past. I'm not asking for flashback, just a couple of dialogues more would have helped with understanding other characters' reactions to him.
Also, Benedict Cumberbatch was extraordinary. I mean, I already knew he was good, he is one of my favourite actors for a reason, but here he was... absolutely incredible. Way above the other actors, who are all really good. He's just completely on a league of his own. Holy shit. And I watched the dubbed version (an amazing Simone D'Andrea, who really managed to re-create his speech patterns), I can only imagine what the original version must be. My head will probably explode.
Okay, the third flaw is, Khan isn't white. Benedict is extraordinary, and he makes a fantastic, unique Khan, but the iconic movie roles for PoCs are so few it's embarassing for the human race, and taking one of the most important characters in science fiction history and giving it to a whiter than white actor is really, really bad. This is Katniss all over again. At least this time it's an evil, racist mass murderer, not a heroine. But still.
Back to the positive, I can't believe they put the glass scene in. The "this is what slash means" scene. And they reversed it. And they took my poor little heart, squeezed it off my chest, and left me there sobbing in my seat. I also loved that they showed Uhura and Kirk being friends, trying to talk Spock into showing that he cares for them. That both his best friend and his girlfriend are on the same level to him, and that's perfectly normal. That, and the male heroes crying, more than once, and that being perfectly normal too. Yessss. I like my characters human and realistic, not macho robots, thank you very much. And Uhura has a lot more scenes and even faces a bunch of Klingons all alone, armed only with her knowledge and wits, you go girl!
And what most of all I adored was the message of the movie. War = bad. Yes, even if they attack us first. Even if they do terrorist attacks. Because war means innocent people getting killed, and that's unacceptable, period. And that's what Star Trek was all about, what made me love it so fiercely back when I was a kid: that they were explorers, not soldiers. That they had a spaceship, and they used it to travel, to meet new people, to LEARN. Not to kill, plant flags nor destroy foreign cultures. That even if Khan is a terrorist, even if he is a murderer, he doesn't get to be executed without a trial, while nobody cares if they start a war in the process. That's WRONG. And that's why this movie, even with its flaws, deserves all the praise I can give. ♥
And now, off to dinner! \o/
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no subject
Date: 2013-06-21 07:22 pm (UTC)I just need to emphasize that seeing the shot of a woman in her underwear INSTANTLY got me like, 'Right. Let's do a shot of a woman in her underwear. Because it is immensely relevant to the plot.' *eye roll* *shakes fist*
I really enjoyed myself in the cinema a few weeks back when I saw this. I was with my sister who came to see it because of Benedict - it's like a 'going to see a friend of my sister's in a movie' kind of thing! - and although she's really not into Sci Fi or anything geeky for that matter, she actually really liked it. Like really. It made my experience twice as good, because both she and I were nervous that she'd be bored or wouldn't get it. So in a way her enjoyment was the best feedback the film could get from my perspective.
God, Benedict.
And let me tell you, you would have had your head explode if you'd heard his voice.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-21 07:37 pm (UTC)I knew JJ Abrams can be a bit of a sexist fuck, and Uhura had a gratitous underwear shot in the first movie, but at least that made a bit more sense in the scene, it was sexist but not like this one, that came completely out of nowhere. Considering Carol isn't even the token sexy female that sleeps with Jim and doesn't even get a name, she's smart and competent and saves Bones and fights her father to save the Enterprise, what the hell. Besides, what was the point in her changing clothes in that scene, given that Bones had to change his uniform too, it just doesn't make any sense.
Another thing I love about Benedict is that every character is completely unique even when he's acting the same emotions. Like, when he beats the crap out of Tom Hardy in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it's still completely different from when he does the same thing as Khan, as if I'm watching another actor. Holy shit indeed. And I loved how they kept the camera on him when he first tells us about his crew and his past and it's all one uninterrupted shot and it's absolutely mindblowing.
I think this could be considered the anti-Joker. As in, Heath Ledger's Joker set the bar for every villain that came after, rightly so. And Benedict's Khan is on the same level, but on the other side of the spectrum, everything that the Joker isn't: he is order, and strength, and intelligence. He loves his crew fiercely, and even his actions in the past were driven by his belief that he and his family were superior to everyone else. While the Joker is chaos, cheerful madness, childish joy that comes from destruction. The Joker is that feeling of satisfaction kids get when they kill an ant with a magnifying glass and a ray of sunshine. Pointless and cruel and pure. Khan instead is reason and fierce love that annihilates everything else.
I need a Khan icon. :D
no subject
Date: 2013-06-23 07:41 pm (UTC)Having grown up with TOS and having watched (and liked) all the previous series (apart for DS9, which I can't stand), I must say that some of the Trek references in the film by JJ Abrams were a bit silly and naive, but some others were well executed. I especially liked Uhura's role, not to mention the fact that Zoe Saldana is the spitting image of young Nichelle Nicholls, which added to the charm of the character. I'm still having some difficulties digesting her relationship with Spock, but I unterstand this is a rebooted universe in which the original stories have taken a different path, so I'm willing to forgive JJ for all the liberties he's taken. I hope the other characters will be developed a little bit more in the next film, because they deserve a bit of screen time of their own, too.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-23 07:54 pm (UTC)Io non so come cacchio fa a fare personaggi così diversi, è davvero geniale. *__________*
(la prima volta alla scena nella cella "il mio equipaggio è la mia famiglia" ho avuto questo flash di Cabin Pressure e mi sono commossa da morire)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-26 10:25 am (UTC)http://redscharlach.livejournal.com/251297.html#t4228257
no subject
Date: 2013-06-26 10:45 am (UTC)