Star Trek: The Motion Picture [1979]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Robert Wise
5/6
So… Me and my 8-year-old, we’ve seen all the Star Wars-flicks, and we’ve seen all the new star treks, and so, I thought it was about time he got inducted into proper trekdom.
I’d expected the original Trek-movie to look dated, but it doesn’t.  It looks… vintage. And still, in a weird way, fresh. And I think I may know why: These old scifi-films have something the new ones lack: They’re filled with amazement. Wonders, even; Long dwelling shots of huge starships. People staring into the universe for 30 seconds, not saying a word, not explaining what’s going on in seven different ways. Mysteries that simply resolve to “huh… imagine that…”

The new ones, they’re all guns-ablazing. And maybe that’s the way it has to be. Pity.

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [2013]

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Francis Lawrence
2/5

About 25 minutes worth of material stretched to 145 makes catching fire a weak followup indeed, not in any way helped along by an apparent committee-written script. Is this really literature adapted

Minor issues they may (or may not) be, but when paired with some truly offensive CGI, Lawrence’s first foray into the Hunger Games universe lands firmly in the book of challenging watches. Bad omens.

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