Remember Season One of Movie Night?
I'll be shocked if there are more than five people who will actually claim to be ardent fans of that era where it all started (although if you've actually read the reviews up to this point, way to go). Specifically...December 20, 2010, which began the show off with an explosion of rambling things from a 14 year old who probably thought typing words on the Internet was the best way to reach people out, with the end result being 26 reviews in the span of 12 days before the year ended, with Season One eventually ending exactly one year later with the 82nd review, Christmas with the Kranks. Since the show began eight years ago, Movie Night has certainly improved in numerous categories, particularly in quality control. In fact, I've already done some quality control with revising some of my older reviews, such as with the Star Wars original trilogy (#113-#115), the RoboCop trilogy (#002, #004, #006) or recent ones like 2001: A Space Odyssey (#093).

As such, I have decided that it is time to revise an era of the show as an anniversary project. I am announcing a revising of the 2010 batch of movie reviews from Movie Night, minus the three redux reviews done for RoboCop already. This includes:

#001 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
#003 - Rocky
#005 - Get Shorty
#007 - Looney Tunes: Back in Action
#008 - X-Men
#009 - Star Trek (2009)
#010 - X2
#011 - Fantastic Four (2005)
#012 - X-Men: The Last Stand
#013 - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
#014 - Die Hard
#015 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
#016 - Die Hard 2
#017 - A Fistful of Dollars
#018 - Die Hard with a Vengeance
#019 - For a Few Dollars More
#020 - A Christmas Story
#021 - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
#022 - Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
#023 - Crocodile Dundee
#024 - Crocodile Dundee II
#025 - First Blood
#026 - Ghostbusters

Redux Review #515: Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Cast: 
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), Persis Khambatta (Ilia), Stephen Collins (Willard Decker), Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel), and Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) Directed by Robert Wise.

Review: 

There were six films based off the Original Series that I reviewed from 2012 to 2014 - #225 - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, #226 - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County, #299 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, #337 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, #492 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, with varying level of opinions and ratings. In the years since, I feel that these reviews deserve a bit more in-depth reviewing much in the same vein that I delivered to the Star Wars films. What better day to do so than June 3, exactly fifty years to the day of the premiere of "Turnabout Intruder", the final episode of the original series.

The second paragraph is where the review for the film starts as the first paragraph is intended to give a bit of insight into the time before the creation of The Motion Picture. Enjoy at your own risk.

Star Trek (now generally referred to as Star Trek: The Original Series) was an entertaining show for its time that contained adventure along with a good sense of humanity and care for its characters and situations. While it can be said that the show had a varying sense of quality (particularly in its third and final season, which was plagued by a shift to Friday and a reduced budget), there were a great deal of classics in its 79 episode run that made the show a cult hit even after its end in 1969, such as "The City on the Edge of Forever", "Amok Time", and numerous others. Despite a run of just three seasons, the show proved popular in syndication; the ten years that passed after its cancellation proved to be fruitful in ambition and results. An animated series was produced by Filmation that lasted for 22 episodes from 1973-74 that starred most of the original cast. There were numerous concepts proposed in trying to make a feature film, with two notable ones being Star Trek: The God Thing and Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, with the former having concepts resembling what would later be depicted in the fifth film a decade later and the latter involving time travel; neither came into fruition, for varying reasons. Paramount Pictures soon expressed a desire to make their own television network (dubbed the Paramount Television Service), with their lead program slated to be Star Trek: Phase II - this show would feature some of the producing staff along with most of the original cast, but without Leonard Nimoy. The intended pilot story, "In Thy Image", originally written by Alan Dean Foster, was converted into the basis for the film. Foster was given story credit for the final film, while Harold Livingston was credited for the screenplay.

What can one say about this film that others haven't already said? Although the movie was a mild success upon first release, it is a film with a less-than-stellar reputation to it, (with some nicknames for it being "The Motionless Picture" and "The Motion Sickness") particularly when one compares it to the films that followed it, or even the show. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is something that is average in its results despite attempts at trying to be thought-provoking in its ideas and in its numerous special effects. When compared to other science fiction films released in the decade (such as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or Alien), this manages to feel a bit flat and not as engaging in what it wants to be. It is nice to see the cast return to their roles again, even if more could almost be said about the costumes that they are adorned with than them, with William Ware Theiss's designs used for the show being replaced by designs from Robert Fletcher, although it is safe for me to say that having the cast in mildly dull colors (such as grey and brown) doesn't lend the movie many favors. Relating back to the characters, it takes a while to get acquainted back with this group, and it is Nimoy who proves to deliver the more capable performance of the group, although it is sometimes interesting to see Shatner (hairpiece included) indulge in a bit of overacting. The new (and I say that generously) group of actors in Khambatta and Collins aren't too bad, but they don't really make all that much of an impression beyond a mild conflict with the others. One might notice plot similarities to "The Changeling", a second season episode written by John Meredyth Lucas that involved a space probe that was searching for its "Creator" that had collided with an alien probe that had molded its directives into something that led to sterilizing imperfections. The episode is considerably better than this film in part because the story seems to hold itself much better, while also being just 50 minutes long, as opposed to the 132 minute run-time of this movie. The threat presented in the movie by V'Ger is where it starts to lose ground. Quite simply, it is a cloud, and if regular clouds can't be engaging enough to carry a film, what chance does V'Ger have in making this movie work? The short answer is that it can't, and it is perhaps the fact that it doesn't speak that brings down the conflict, or maybe it is that is just isn't as interesting an adversary as the film thinks it is.

The special effects are where the movie does shine at times.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

work log

 2022: 

January: 23

February: 20

March: 22

April: 21

May: 23

June: 21

July: 

2021: 255

January: 23

February: 19

March: 21

April: 20

May: 23

June: 21

July: 23

August: 18

September: 23

October: 22

November: 20 

December: 21 (12/30)

2020: 242

January: 17

February: 18

March: 20

April: 21

May: 23

June: 19

July: 15*

August: 20

September: 22

October: 22

November: 22

December: 24

2019: 224

January: 19

February: 17

March: 19

April: 19

May: 17

June: 21

July: 19

August: 18

September: 20

October: 19

November: 17

December: 19

2018: 80

September: 16 

October: 23

November: 22

December: 19

MOVIE NIGHT

Movie Night has been moved to: movienightcentral.blogspot.com

"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"

Written by Charles M. Schulz.

Special Thanksgiving/Peanuts Review: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

Cast
Todd Barbee as Charlie Brown, Robin Kohn as Lucy van Pelt, Stephen Shea as Linus van Pelt, Hilary Momberger as Sally Brown, Christopher DeFaria as Peppermint Patty, Jimmy Ahrens as Marcie, Robin Reed as Franklin, and Bill Melendez as Snoopy and Woodstock. Directed by Bill Melendez.

Review
The Thanksgiving special is a staple of this holiday, and it shows in this special. It's fun to watch and of course very humorous to watch. This is a special that's all the stuff you'll love. The characters are all fun and all entertaining on a review short to accommodate the Thanksgiving feast that is probably happening right now.

Overall, I give it a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

"You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown"

Written by Charles M. Schulz.

Special Peanuts/Election Day Review: You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

Cast
Chad Webber as Charlie Brown, Stephen Shea as Linus van Pelt, Robin Kohn as Lucy van Pelt, Hilary Momberger as Sally Brown, Todd Barbee as Russell Anderson, Linda Ercoli as Violet, Brian Kazanjian as Schroeder, Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock. Directed by Bill Melendez.

Review
You're Not Elected is also a good special, with Linus once again being the main character. The special has humor that again mixes in to the plot, making it an interest and a treat to watch. It's amazing how you can make a special about Election Day and yet still make it seem unpolitical that it works single handily.

Overall, I give it a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

"Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown"

Written by Craig Schulz, Charles M. Schulz & Stephan Pastis.

Peanuts Review: Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.

Cast

Austin Lux as Linus Van Pelt, Amanda Pace as Sally, Trenton Rogers as Charlie Brown and Schroeder, Grace Rolek as Lucy Van Pelt, Shane Baumel as Pig-Pen, Blesst Bowden as Violet, Ciara Bravo as Patty, Andy Pessoa as Shermy, and Andy Beall as Snoopy and Woodstock. Directed by Andrew Beall and Frank Molieri.


Review
Linus and his blanket have always has a special connection all throughout the Peanuts special, even in A Charlie Brown Christmas (With the scene involving hitting a can with a snowball with the help of his blanket being one), so making a special about this makes a good deal of sense. Does it work though? Yea, it does. It all seems good and well, having some funny and yet some dramatic moments, which are a staple of the specials. The only thing I find wrong is the one scene dealing with Charlie Brown and his torment. Honesty I felt it went a bit too far (Gee, using the first comic strip to bash the character most associated with the comic strip? Ouch.), but it's still good, nonetheless.

Overall, I give it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

Written by Charles M. Schulz.

Special Halloween/Peanuts Review: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Cast
Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown and Pig-Pen, Christopher Shea as Linus van Pelt, Sally Dryer as Lucy van Pelt, Glenn Mendelson as Schroeder, Kathy Steinberg as Sally Brown, Ann Altieri as Violet Gray, Lisa DeFaria as Patty, Bill Melendez as Snoopy. Directed by Bill Melendez.

Review
It is a classic as it expresses the best of the Peanuts comic/specials, with humor mixed into the plot. It's a fun story to watch for anyone. Its characters and animation work hand in hand and it does have the classic feel that Peanuts special usually have.

Overall, I give it a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.