Oscars @ Home

There are over 40 different films nominated for Oscars this year and less than 30 days before the actual telecast. Let's be real here. Unless you've been thoroughly preparing for this throughout the year, you will not get a chance to see all the nominated films in time. Even if you did prepare, or are a film critic like myself and have seen 30 of the nominated films already, there are some selections, like the surprise animated feature nominee, THE SECRET OF KELLS, which won't reach theatres until after the awards are handed out. And so I suppose the goal is to do the best we can with what time we have and with the resources available to us.

This is where I come in. I will help you make sure you see as many of the right films possible before the big night. To make it easier on you, I'll start with all the nominated films that you can get at the video store or on demand or delivered to your door. Believe it or not, there are 16 films available to rent before the telecast airs, five of which are nominated for Best Picture. You can start your journey comfortably in your living room and work your way up getting out of the house and into the crowds to see the rest. I will rank them in order of importance and list the awards they are nominated for so that you can see why I consider them important.

1. THE HURT LOCKER
Nominated for:

PICTURE
DIRECTOR
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ACTOR
FILM EDITING
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ORIGINAL SCORE
SOUND MIXING
SOUND EDITING


Tied for the most nominations with AVATAR, THE HURT LOCKER is your first stop. Unfortunately, as it only pulled in $13 million or so in theatres, it is a lot of people's first stop so it might be hard to find. If you're a fan of the war genre and appreciate the tension that only dismantling bombs can carry, you should just buy it. It's a gorgeous film. THE HURT LOCKER has a great chance to win in all of its categories, except the acting (sorry, Jeremy Renner), so this is a must if you want to follow on the big night.

2. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Nominated for:

PICTURE
DIRECTOR
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
SUPPORTING ACTOR
FILM EDITING
CINEMATOGRAPHY
SOUND MIXING
SOUND EDITING

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS has only one less nod than THE HURT LOCKER but not as much buzz. I would say it would be a surprise Best Picture winner but if anyone has a shot at a directing upset, it's Quentin Tarantino. Christoph Waltz is a lock for Supporting Actor and Tarantino might take the screenplay nod instead of the directing award. This one is also a must see.

3. DISTRICT 9
Nominated for:

PICTURE
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
FILM EDITING
VISUAL EFFECTS

DISTRICT 9 is a long shot in all of it's categories but the fact that it managed that much attention in such big categories makes me think a lot of people liked this one. It is a must see before the telecast just because of what it is nominated for but as it won't likely win, it won't be the end of everything if you miss it.

4. UP
Nominated for:

PICTURE
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANIMATED FEATURE
ORIGINAL SCORE
SOUND EDITING


UP has a very good chance to beat FANTASTIC MR. FOX for Animated Feature and an off chance at the screenplay bid so it is a contender but I don't see it as a Best Picture threat. Composer Michael Giacchino could grab another award for his score but I don't know how many people watch the Oscars for the music category. If you haven't seen UP, you should. You'll be happy to see it win whatever it does.

5. A SERIOUS MAN
Nominated for:

PICTURE
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Two biggies there but no support in any other category suggests people liked A SERIOUS MAN but weren't floored by anything in particular about it. Personally, I loved everything about it and still think Michael Stuhlbarg was robbed in the Best Actor category. It comes out tomorrow and Black Sheep's full review will be up then.

6. JULIE & JULIA
Nominated for:

ACTRESS

JULIE & JULIA only has the one nomination but it happens to be a record-breaking one for Meryl Streep and people are saying that it is going to come down to her or Sandra Bullock in THE BLIND SIDE. If you want to get in on that race, you need to start here.

7. IN THE LOOP
Nominated for:

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY


Although I was sad not to see Tom Ford pick up a nod for writing A SINGLE MAN, I am thrilled to see the screenplay for IN THE LOOP up for it instead. This is definitely one of the sharpest, dirtiest, most hilarious films I've seen in years. You likely have never heard of it but if you are debating watching it because of the nomination, good for you! You will laugh very hard at this British political satire. It is brave and shocking and again, so funny!

8. STAR TREK
Nominated for:

VISUAL EFFECTS
SOUND MIXING
SOUND EDITING
MAKEUP

STAR TREK may have missed out on the bigger prizes but these four nods tie STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME for the most Oscar nods for any Star Trek film. You don't need to see this beforehand but you should definitely see it.

9. THE COVE and FOOD INC.
Each nominated for:

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

You don't always get to see the nominated documentary features that easily and THE COVE and FOOD INC. are two that you don't want to miss. Both will change your life and just imagine how smart you'll look at your Oscar party when you can say you've seen two of the nominated documentaries.


THE REST ...

The following films are nominated here and there and also available to watch before the telecast, in case you wanted to be thorough. Once you're done with the first half of this list though, you should probably get to the theatre before the rest of these. Priorities, people!



BRIGHT STAR
(Nominated for Costume Design)

COCO AVANT CHANEL
(Costume Design)

CORALINE
(Animated Feature)

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
(Cinematography)

IL DIVO
(Makeup)

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
(Sound Mixing)

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Summer 2009!

It is Labour Day today - a day in which no one actually labours too hard, likely because they already went too hard doing something else last night. And as we sit here and recover from our evenings, we are really recovering from the summer as a whole. It all starts back tomorrow, school and sweater weather, that is. The summer blockbusters will make way for pensive Academy fare and before we all put on out glasses and thinking caps, let us raise a glass one last time to the summer of 2009.

(Click on any of the highlighted titles to read the Black Sheep review.)


I wouldn't go so far as to say there is a clear winner at the box office for the summer of 2009 but it can be definitely narrowed down to three. To look at the Top 10 worldwide grosses above, the Top 3 easily outrank the rest of the Top 10 and for different reasons. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, was the clear North American winner, pulling in just under $400 million during its summer run, from both regular and more expensive IMAX screens. The surprising international winner was the third installment of the ICE AGE series, pulling in over $640 million outside of North America. Despite these individual successes, one film did better combined and that was the sixth film in the HARRY POTTER series, proving that the franchise is nowhere near losing its magical touch and will likely ride it out through the remaining two installments. Fans were desperate for some Potter love as it had been over two years since the last film and the final book were released. Harry was due and he got his dues in return.


ANGELS AND DEMONS, the sequel to the infinitely more successful DA VINCI CODE, managed a surprise fourth place finish overall. This is the perfect example of how one film's disappointing domestic bow can be easily salvaged by international interest. International interest also saved TERMINATOR SALVATION and the second NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM even pulled in about $50 million overseas more than its domestic total. Contrarily, there are some films that perform significantly better domestically than elsewhere. The most notable example is STAR TREK. J.J. Abrams managed to successfully reboot the ancient franchise for North American audiences but did not drum nearly as much interest around the globe. It was still one of my favorite flicks this summer.


Men behaving badly left its usual mark on the summer box office, most notably with, the runaway success, THE HANGOVER, which performed well both domestically and internationally and the sequel is already in development. I'm not sure how many times we can watch these dopes get plastered and recreate their evenings but I wasn't sure anyone would care this time either so what do I know? Testosterone also fueled hits like Michael Mann's PUBLIC ENEMIES ($97 million in N.A.) and the summer kick starter, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. Meanwhile, the women continued to prove that summer time is just as much their time as it is the boys'. The Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy, THE PROPOSAL did exceptionally well, with a grand domestic total of $161 million, making the it the 9th biggest domestic summer title out there. And the ladies also enjoyed THE UGLY TRUTH ($87.6 million) JULIE & JULIA ($80.6 Million) and THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE ($55.8 million). Granted those three films combined still come nowhere near what THE HANGOVER made, it is a strong showing nonetheless.


3D added a new dimension to the box office this summer. With a higher ticket price, late summer entry THE FINAL DESTINATION was able to open bigger than any of the previous films in the franchise and G-FORCE was able to cross the $100 million mark for Disney. There was no bigger 3D success this summer though than Pixar's first 3D effort, UP!. UP! pulled in over $290 million domestically, making it the third biggest film of the year so far and the second biggest Pixar film in their history, behind FINDING NEMO, the highest grossing animated film of all time. Pixar will be re-releasing their first hits TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2 in 3D as a double bill for a limited run in October to whet our appetite for their next 3D entry, 2010's TOY STORY 3.


There were no major bombs this summer but there were a number of disappointments. The biggest was certainly BRUNO, which grossed more than $60 million less than Sasha Baron Cohen's breakout, BORAT did and it fell fast, proving that Twitter and texting can kill you dead and it can kill you quick. Other disappointments include Judd Apatow's return to directing, FUNNY PEOPLE ($51 million), the Apatow produced, YEAR ONE ($43 million) and the Sam Raimi directed, DRAG ME TO HELL ($42 million). Incidentally, that last one was actually really good so don't let it slip past you when it is released to rent and own this October.


The summer is also a time for little art movies to rise past the big explosions and make miniature waves of their own. Sam Mendes's AWAY WE GO charmed adult audiences at the beginning of the summer, finishing with a total gross of $9.5 million. Oscar contender, THE HURT LOCKER beat the war movie curse by taking in $11.7 million in limited release. No film crossed over better though that the modern romantic comedy, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, which allowed the whole world to fall in love with Zooey Deschanel right alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to the tune of $28.4 million.


The final days of summer wound down with the reasonable launch of a new franchise based on a toy, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. The film pulled in about $141 million domestically and just about the same internationally. They aren't TRANSFORMERS size numbers but they will do for at least one sequel. Quentin Tarantino released what will go on to be the most successful film of his career with INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. The domestic total currently stands at $95 million and it will surely surpass the $107 million domestic gross of the Oscar winning, PULP FICTION. And then there was that phenomenal film about alien occupation on earth that many critics and moviegoers considered to be the best release of the summer, DISTRICT 9. The Neill Bloomkamp directed film has already taken in $103 million and Sony has greenlit not one but two sequels.


Overall, the 2009 worldwide summer box office took in over $10 billion, allowing it to surpass the records established two years ago. Apparently, the summer box office dollar is alive, well and in three dimensions.

Black Sheep's regular box office report will return next week.

Sources: Variety
Box Office Mojo

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Yes, Sandra Bullock! We Will Marry You.

Albeit a premise that has been done many times before and despite a recently uneven track record for star, Sandra Bullock, North America has proclaimed a resounding, “Yes!” for THE PROPOSAL, as the comedy conquered all at the box office this weekend. I guess everybody loves a June wedding!


THE PROPOSAL had its rehearsal dinner last weekend, where a sneak preview allowed audiences to see the bride before the wedding. While that would ordinarily be considered bad luck, it was the complete opposite here. Like most marriages these days though, it will be the weeks to come that will show whether this marriage will make it to the golden years or end up in divorce.


The week’s other big release generated about as much interest as a high school history lesson. YEAR ONE starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as some of the first people to ever grace this good earth, pulled in a modest average of just under $7K per screen. I would call that historic and I’m fairly certain, it will soon be forgotten.


Meanwhile, the rest of the Top 10 continued to separate the men from the boys as THE HANGOVER, UP!, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 and STAR TREK all posted declines of 30% or lower. UP! is now in the perfect position to not only become this summer’s biggest hit (so far) but it will also most likely finish its run as the second most successful animated film of all time, behind another Pixar classic, FINDING NEMO.


Below the Top 10, summertime independent, AWAY WE GO continued its successful expansion, with a potential Top 10 appearance likely in the next couple of weeks. FOOD INC and MOON held up solidly, if not spectacularly, in their second weeks. It was Woody Allen though that made the big splash this weekend. After the summer success of his last film, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Allen returns this summer with his first New York City based film in years, WHATEVER WORKS, starring Larry David. WHATEVER WORKS, which will be reviewed by Black Sheep this week, opened on just nine screens (vs. almost 700 screens for VCB) but pulled in an average of over $31K on those screens for a total of $281K. The film expands next week and will try to match VCB’s $23 million domestic tally, the most for an Allen film is years.

NEXT WEEK: TRANSFORMERS 2 is expected to be the biggest thing this summer and it hits this Wednesday on more than 4000 screens. And you know you’re in trouble when the trailer almost makes you cry; Cameron Diaz returns to screens in MY SISTER’S KEEPER (2600 screens).

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Stiller Takes Down the Terminator

Overcrowding at the box office is standard fare during the summer months. I always feel that the films could be better spread out but studios continue to insist upon pitting film against film instead of just picking perhaps more quiet weekends to let films find their own audiences. I just have to learn though that it isn’t about everyone having their own day; it’s about coming out strong and taking down the other guy while you’re at it.


Prognosticators were torn on how this weekend would play out. On the one hand, TERMINATOR SALVATION was tracking very well and seemed to be riding some pretty strong buzz. On the other hand, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE AT THE SMITHSONIAN was coming a hugely successful following for the first film and a lack of family fare in the market place. Most had their money on NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM as family films tend to do big business on Memorial Day weekend. They would have won their bets but grossly overshot how much they would win by. Some predictions had the film coming in at $75 million but it only brought in $53 million in the end. While well below what they may have been hoping for, it is still much better than the first adventure’s opening weekend take of $30 million and that one went on to make over $250 million.


The buzz for TERMINATOR SALVATION seemed to dissipate pretty quickly as soon as the weekend hit. The McG directed film, the first in the series to come out since 2003, capitalized on the demand by coming on Thursday to the tune of $13 million, including midnight screenings. Poor reviews though, from both critics and fans, may have shortened the lines. Personally, I felt that the critics were being more harsh than needed but regardless, McG’s franchise reboot has a much more difficult road ahead of it as it goes into its next two expected installments. Meanwhile, the STAR TREK reboot continues to travel at warp speed. It has now brought in over $180 million in just three weeks and should have no problems crossing the $200 million mark by next weekend.


The Top 10 saw only one other debut and it did what was expected. DANCE FLICK did mediocre business and will likely end up making is reported $25 million budget back but not doing much else past that. And below the Top 10, THE BROTHERS BLOOM and SUMMER HOURS continued to add theatres and grosses. Each saw their returns increase over 300% and their averages in and around $7K per screen. Although there are no estimates reported for Steven Soderbergh’s sexy THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, the week’s best art house debut goes to EASY VIRTUE (Black Sheep review to come this week). This British farce, with Jessica Biel making a play for more leading parts, pulled in a solid $11K average. Reviews are mixed though so Biel will need to try again. I would suggest she take off some clothes but she already has and that went straight to video.

NEXT WEEK: Pixar tries to make it 10 for 10 with their latest feature, UP! An animated feature about an old grump and a boy scout in a flying house seems like a hard sell to me but they made rats in the kitchen and a half silent film about a robot work so I don’t underestimate anything they put out. UP! will be released on 3700 screens. The only other wide release next weekend is looking for a decidedly different market. Sam Raimi’s financing horror flick, DRAG ME TO HELL, opens on 2400 screens. Outside of that, THE BROTHERS BLOOM goes wide and this year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, DEPARTURES, from Japan, will finally hit North American theatres.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Demons Over Angels

Two years ago, around this same time, director, Ron Howard and novelist, Dan Brown, unleashed THE DA VINCI CODE on the planet. It pulled in about $77 million in North America and blew away everyone’s expectations. The book itself was a phenomenon and that spilled over onto the screen and across the planet. That said, people may have flocked to see it but they didn’t leave happy. Howard and Brown are back again with ANGELS & DEMONS but it seems to me that despite their angelic efforts, the demonic taste their last outing left in people’s mouths has ultimately won out.


ANGELS & DEMONS has brought in an estimated $48 million in returns but that is a far cry from the opening gross of its predecessor. Reviews for both the book and the film were better this time out but there was no urgency this time out. Still, the haul was still solid and no one call ANGELS & DEMONS a disappointment. This is especially true when you factor in the international returns. ANGELS & DEMONS, the continued adventures of Tom Hanks as supreme symbologist, Robert Langdon, pulled in a little over $104 million in 96 countries to easily capture the international crown with a total of $152.3 million. Not to take away from this success but THE DA VINCI CODE did bring is $155 million internationally and a grand total of $232 million. I’ll stop harping; ANGELS & DEMONS is not THE DA VINCI CODE after all and fans can also appreciate that because it is definitely a better film too.


Howard, Hanks and Brown (not a law firm) only narrowly captured the top position in North America as last week’s champ, STAR TREK, came in just behind with $43 million. A 42% drop for a fan heavy summer blockbuster is extremely respectable. This is especially true when you consider the 65%+ drop of WOLVERINE in its second weekend. WOLVERINE tapered off this week with only a 44% drop but in just two weeks, STAR TREK has nearly totaled more than WOLVERINE has in three weeks ($147 million vs. $151).


As there were no other debuts in the Top 10, which did about 4% better than the same weekend last year when PRINCE CASPIAN debuted with $55 million, we can go straight to the excitement happening below it. The oft delayed, THE BROTHERS BLOOM, starring Adrian Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz, finally came out and actually did well. It didn’t capture the honor of having the highest per screen average around but it did fare better than ANGELS & DEMONS, with an average of over $20K on just 4 screens. The highest per screen average around actually went to French export, SUMMER HOURS, starring Juliette Binoche. The film in which siblings let go of their past during an estate sale pulled in over $24K per screen on just 2 screens. This week’s only other major platform debut was a disappointing finish for the Steve Zahn/Jennifer Aniston indie, MANAGEMENT. The film debuted on 212 screens and brought in less than $2K per screen. Promotion was pretty minimal though so I guess that was what management expected.

NEXT WEEK: ANGELS & DEMONS does not stand a chance against the overcrowded weekend that is coming. First off, on the smaller fare front, THE BROTHERS BLOOM will expand. Steven Soderbergh’s brilliant and beautiful, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE hits 30 screens across the country. And Jessica Biel debuts her British farce, EASY VIRTUE. When it comes to bigger movies, I think the biggest casualty will be the Wayans Brothers spoof, DANCE FLICK (2300 screens). It’s going to come down to two intensely different movies battling it out for the top spot. Ben Stiller returns in NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 (4000 screens), hoping to repeat the long-term success of his first family hit. McG and Christian Bale though are back with a reenergized franchise on Thursday as TERMINATOR SALVATION (3500 screens) finally declares war on the multiplexes.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: STAR TREK Lives Long and Prospers

They’ve been taunting us for months now and while that sometimes comes across as obnoxious or pompous but in the case of the STAR TREK reboot, it seems that it was just pride all along.


There was no certainty that relaunching a decades old franchise and aiming it at a generation that really had nothing to do with it past having to sit through organized marathons with their potentially costumed fathers. Yet here we are, $72 million later, and there is no question that the decision to come back was a good one. The film is being heralded highly by both critics and audiences alike, which means that STAR TREK may not disappear so quickly into the overcrowded summer night. Outside of North America, STAR TREK performed solidly, pulling in an additional $35 million. Playing on over 5,000 screens, many expected a bigger figure.


STAR TREK may not have launched as monumentally as last weekend’s WOLVERINE but something tells me STAR TREK will be able to parlay its excellent word of mouth into a much thinner decline than the 68% WOLVERINE plummeted this week. WOLVERINE does not have the benefit of being loved by many if any, had to deal with the inevitable fanboy drop-off and went head to head with another highly anticipated feature that was essentially attacking the same demographic. WOLVERINE almost held its international box office crown though, pulling in just under $30 million outside of North America.


The Top 10 saw only one other debut, NEXT DAY AIR, which fizzled out in sixth place. Meanwhile, three intriguing indies performed reasonably well in limited release further down the chart. The highest charting title is also the title with the lowest average between the three. Reuniting Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna from Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, RUDO Y CURSI, debuted on 70 screens but only managed an average of $3K. Meanwhile, debuting on just 12 screens, LITTLE ASHES, in which TWILIGHT hunk, Robert Pattinson plays gay, brought in the highest average of any limited release, $6.4K. And falling somewhere in between the two, Atom Egoyan’s latest, ADORATION, brought in an average of $4.3K on just 10 screens.

NEXT WEEK: Tom Hanks tries to take down Starfleet and the Roman Catholic church in ANGELS AND DEMONS. And on the indie front, the Jennifer Aniston/Steve Zahn comedy, MANAGEMENT will start small and the oft-delayed THE BROTHERS BLOOM will finally see the light of day.

STAR TREK

Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and Leonard Nimoy


James T. Kirk: Who was that pointy-eared bastard?

How long has it been now? It seems like the last star date was light years ago, that a franchise that had been a cultural mainstay for decades had finally drifted into its final frontier. As the leagues of Trekkies grew older, it seemed that the obsession and admiration for Gene Roddenberry’s benchmark science fiction work would soon die out but one Trekkie would not hear of it. J.J. Abrams, the man responsible for creating a new faction of avid followers with his twisted series, “Lost”, stepped up to bring STAR TREK to this generation. The trick then became how to sell these classic characters to an audience that may widely know them solely as punch lines or wax statues while not shunning those who watched religiously and have had to wait seven years for a new installment. Abrams must be a master trickster then because his reboot feels alive and energized from start to finish. While making a movie to appease particular crowds, both new and old, Abrams has instead made a STAR TREK film everyone can get into.


I never cared much for the original “Star Trek” series and I was only a casual viewer of “The Next Generation”. I have nothing against Trekkies but I most certainly am not one. And I also admit that the thing I was most curious about this film was how Abrams could make STAR TREK relevant again. He did it by owning it. From the very beginning, STAR TREK dives into intense drama. A Starfleet ship is under attack by a rogue Romulan ship that appears out of nowhere and looks like a tentacled mechanical monster. People are dying all around and the situation is grim but the result is instant immersement in an alternate reality that is unfathomable and yet entirely convincing. We proceed to bounce back and forth between Iowa and the planet, Vulcan, as if they were mere minutes apart. Beings, both human and alien, exist in both plains seamlessly and it suddenly isn’t so difficult to relate. Even Michael Giacchino’s score is triumphantly, boldly proclaiming a resounding pride for the project as a whole. STAR TREK makes no apologies for what it is and no concessions to be here now.


Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s screenplay is surprisingly concise given their studio background. They were faced with the challenge of reintroducing characters that are cultural icons without desecrating their origins. The truth is that bringing the whole cast of characters from the original Enterprise as is could never work today. They are simply too dated to keep up with today’s pace. And while their new incarnations are much more limber, they also have their original values (and a few hilarious catchphrases) in tact. And Abrams did a fine job weaving the old and new into his fresh cast. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is a cocky self-assured womanizer but Pine plays him with a well-hidden insecurity in the back of his head as to what he truly can accomplish. Ohura (Zoe Saldana) is a beautiful and fiercely intelligent woman on a mission to succeed. And Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), the child of a Vulcan father and a human mother, is the most fascinating of them all. Quinto strikes the perfect balance of internal turmoil between honouring his Vulcan roots and indulging his human emotions. Perhaps most important though, the cast just seems to be enjoying every second of their time on deck.


Maybe I should just have a little more faith in reappropriating the past. This is the age of the geek after all so it shouldn’t be so surprising to see this resurgence now. I haven’t discussed the plot because it simply isn’t necessary. Suffice it to say, it is intricate and tight and a lot more fun not to know where anything is going at any point in time. It is such a smooth ride that you can just sit back and enjoy the comfortable warp cruising speed. I didn’t think he could do it but J.J. Abrams has boldly brought STAR TREK where no STAR TREK film has ever gone before … past the niche and to the masses.



(ps. is it wrong to think mr. spock is hot?)