Craig's MovieBlog

New Star Trek Trailer

What was I saying about not being inspired by anything at the movies these days?

Yes please.

Enjoy the new Star Trek trailer.

And from now on, please let JJ Abrams reboot all film franchises.  Except maybe Batman – Chris Nolan can keep that.  But take Superman away from Bryan Singer, and pry Indiana Jones away from Spielberg and Lucas. 

Thanks.

UPDATE:

I know this is ridiculously nerdy, but after watching this for the 40th time, I noticed something very subtle that gives just a slight hint to what the trailer was about.  Check out the license plate:

Yes, I am a nerd loser.

Batman's Voice is Silly, But Spreading

I think we all agree that while The Dark Knight was excellent, the voice that Christian Bale chose to use as Batman was just silly.

So, why… why I ask you… why is Rorschach using that exact same voice in the new trailer for Watchmen, and why in the world is Clint Eastwood using it in Gran Torino?!?

But wow.  Great Watchmen trailer:

Getting Old

There are times when I think about films that shaped my cinematic perspective, and then I realize when they were released, and it makes me feel freaking old.  For example:

• The Untouchables was released in 1987 – 21 freaking years ago.
• Reservoir Dogs, a film that changed movies forever, was released in 1992 – 16 years ago.
• The Usual Suspects came out in 1995, 13 years ago.  Someone who was born when this movie was released just had their Bar Mitzvah.
• Ghostbusters - 1984 – 24 years ago… way over half my life.  Don’t even ask about Caddyshack.

But my slow feeble mind always stopped there.  Jason Kottke, however, made the brilliant move of comparing these past films to what would have been similar comparisons back when we watched the film originally.  I know… hard to explain, but here’s an example:

Watching Star Wars today is like watching It's a Wonderful Life (1946) in 1977.

Watching Back to the Future today is like watching To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) in 1985.

My favorite one, however, is when he brings music into the equation:

Radiohead, OK Computer (1997) --> Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet (1986)

And slightly related:

Blogging Drought and Mad Men

I’m not sure why I haven’t been posting here.  Sure... busy at work, but whatever.  I think it just comes down to the fact that I have been inspired by absolutely nothing in the movie business lately.  Nothing.  Okay, yeah... I want to see the new Bond flick, but I'm hearing mixed things (especially from David Poland) but I just can't seem to get excited by anything that's coming our way.  Can't tell if the problem is me or them - I guess that's the tricky part.

The other issue is that when I'm writing about movies, I feel like I'm cheating on my new love: Mad Men.  So, in honor of my deep deep love affair with that show, here are a bunch of Mad Men links that I've been saving up:

• The Simpsons spoof the Mad Men title sequence
• Truthful TV title cards - check out the one for Mad Men.  Heroes is funny too.
• Mad Men Fan Fiction - weird, but... No, just plain weird.
• Great interview with creator Matthew Weiner
• How to discuss Mad Men properly
• How to get Don Draper hair

Thanks to Fimoculous.com and kottke.org for these links, and for just plain being absolutely awesome.