Blog Archives
Guest Blogger JMT On Why We’re So Excited About Star Trek Into Darkness
At the Toronto Comic Arts Festival last weekend, I bumped into occasional BBP contributor JMT, and we got to talking about Star Trek and why so many of us are excited to the arrival of Star Trek Into Darkness. A few days later, this arrived in my inbox, and summed things up nicely! – Andy Burns
We at Biff Bam Pop enjoyed the JJ Abrams (gritty) reboot of the Star Trek franchise. The 2009 film was suitably rooted in Gene Rodenberry’s universe and conveyed all of the size and scale we were hoping for, from the shipyard on earth, to the reveal shot of the Enterprise docked at a truly massive space station.
The cast offered interpretations of character audiences were familiar with, rather than mere impressions of the original cast. Two hours of Chris Pine doing William Shatner would have been insufferable, even if Karl Urban, couldn’t help but impersonate Deforest Kelley at times.
The device that linked the reboot to the original franchise was elegant. It avoided becoming bogged down in a discussion of the mechanics of time travel and jumping between universes. Even the most cynical moviegoers could take pleasure in Leonard Nimoy’s role.
The many smaller nods to the original series (Kirk in bed with an alien, who’s costume consisted only of some poorly applied green paint), seemed sufficient to satisfy most trekkies, at least according the aggregate scores on Meta critic and IMDB.
The first film in a franchise is the easiest, with a tried and true structure to rely on. Act one is an origin story, act two shows the transformation into a realized hero and act three presents a threat for the hero to overcome. The second film in a franchise poses the difficult question: what now? Sequels often end up adding more to the original without expanding upon it.
However, the lack of a specific formula for a sequel presents an opportunity for filmmakers to tell a new story. We have seen how Abrams successfully wove two origin stories together within the context of the Star Trek universe, and we are intrigued by the possibilities of Abrams, unfettered by the constraints of a first film in a franchise, may deliver as a sequel.
If Star Trek Into Darkness turns out to be a standard sequel, more spectacular shots of space, more cameos from members of the original cast, more poorly costumed aliens (dare we hope for tribbles), we will be satisfied… at least until the trailer for the inevitable third film.
Trailer Time: More Star Trek Into Darkness
Your summer blockbusters not coming quick enough? Here’s the second official Star Trek Into Darkness trailer, playing before Oz the Great and Powerful in most theaters:
Oh wow. They are specifically dodging the identity of the villain, but “by now you’ve all heard about what happened in London,” and “he’s a fugitive and” Kirk wants “to take him out.” What do you folks think?
All I know is I can’t wait for May 17th! “Punch it!”
The Comic Stop: Hoax Hunters #6 Aims To Bunk The Debunkers In A New Storyline
It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that we here at Biff Bam Pop! love our monsters, our aliens, our paranormal and our conspiracy theories. These topics just seem to root, enjoyably so, deep in our pop-culture love lives. And that’s why we’re enamoured with the comic book series Hoax Hunters, published monthly from Image Comics.
Hoax Hunters scratches that deep-rooted itch in a firm, sharp-nailed, and oh-so satisfying manner. It tells the story of the eccentric hosts of the Hoax Hunters television series – a program dedicated to de-bunking all of those Moth Man, Sasquatch, Chupacabra, Nessie, ghost and witch stories that we’ve all heard while growing up (or when listening to Coast to Coast each evening). Heck, every once in a while these legends still make the mainstream news!
The most recent story arc (issue #’s 0-5 of the series) has just wrapped up and last month saw the release of the first Hoax Hunters trade paperback, compiling them. That book comes highly recommended – exciting times, indeed! But best of all, this week sees the release of issue #6, which starts up a brand new storyline and makes for a great “jumping on” point for new readers.
Find out why below…
Trailer Time: Man of Steel
Here it is, the second official trailer for Man of Steel, the new Superman movie from Zack Snyder, starring Henry Cavill in the title role, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, and Michael Shannon as Zod.
Wow. What do you folks out there think?
Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.
Trailer Time: Evil Dead 2013
It’s HERE – Evil Dead is getting a massive overhaul at the first red band (and high quality) trailer is here at LAST. I’ve already waxed poetic about the Evil Dead franchise; but this – this movie is something different.
Fans probably heard about the leaked footage from the NYC Comic Con but at last an official Trailer is here. This trailer promises the Evil Dead we’ve all been dying for… hearkening back to the first film’s atmospheric spook, and pumped up with a massive effects budget and some smart camera techniques, this is officially my #1 MUST SEE movie of 2013.
But see for yourself… Read the rest of this entry
Trailer Time: Django Unchained
Today brings a treat for Quentin Tarantino fans as we get our first look at the trailer for Django Unchained, what QT calls a “southern,” in which he brings the sensibilities and styles of the Spaghetti Western to the torturous history of slavery in America’s Deep South.
Django Unchained opens in theaters on Christmas Day 2012.
Check out the trailer below and be sure to let us know what you think!
5 things that’ll make 2012 great
We’re on the threshold of a new year.
There’s plenty of reason for excitement, but if you watch stuff like this or this, you might be thinking our civilization and way of life are doomed.
I say nuts to that. Personally, 2011 was an awful year. I’m glad to stick a fork in this one come Sunday, and I think you should too, especially knowing what good stuff is on the horizon.
To pick you up before 2011 go-goes, here are five reasons 2012 is going to be a great year:
