A couple o' movie mini-reviews

[nat]

What series do you like best? They're all great, but I'm partial to 5.

[Sinistron]

I'm not cold, just cynical and seldom serious (maybe I need to toss around a few more smilies).  If you don't like me commenting on your bad forum manners, then I suggest that you either A) deal with it, B) ignore my posts, C) deal with it , D) go away, or E) deal with it.  I vote for options A, C, or E. 

Good reply- I admit! 

I'll choose F.

I don't know where you think I'm coming off cold or disrespectful.  To be honest I am not that familiar with you or your posting style, so any grudges you think I have against you are in your imagination alone.  It's just common sense, that's all.  Granted if enough time has passed and you have new and relevant info to add, then making a new post is fine.  But mere minutes and just adding to the same chain of thought?

Well maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  To tell it true- been having chest and back pain.  Maybe that's why I got particularly annoyed when you said that the only reason I seem to be doing it is to inflate my post count.  I hate when people make assumptions about me- especially when they're not that familiar with me as you noted.  That said- enough nonsense.  In theory it is nonsense that was spawned by me for not being as savvy with the posting and threading as you veterans are- so I will lay down an apology here to get shit over and done with- I'm sorry.  Now back to Nat's thread. 

[Joe Redifer]

Nah, I've just seen others do it on an older forum I moderate on, so we turned off post counts entirely (they're back on now).

It's not something I'd ever ban anyone for.  But I can't ban anyone here I don't think.  No worries!   

[Nazi NecroPhile]

What series do you like best? They're all great, but I'm partial to 5.

I don't really know.  Until recently, I'd only seen them on broadcast television and never really paid much attention to which series a particular episode belonged.

[nat]

Season 5 has classics such as "Holoship," "Back to Reality," "Quarantine," and "The Inquisitor."

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Then I'd be inclined to agree that Series 5 is some of the best.  Mr. Flibble for the win!

[nat]

Quarantine was my favorite episode, ever, for a long time. I'm not sure I can make that statement any more though. "Stoke Me a Clipper" from the 7th series is damn good, the pre-title intro is possible the funniest 5 minutes ever laid down on film.

[nat]

Fool's Gold - I thought this movie looked pretty stupid, but Holly wanted to see it so we did this weekend. In a complete upset, I found myself liking it all the way through. It's always good times seeing a 175 year-old Donald Sutherland do something, and Goldie Hahn's daughter is always tasty eye candy. Whoever plays Sutherland's daughter in this movie is fucking hot, I need to go look up who that was. Her character was dumb as shit but damn, I'd give her the time of day and then some. The flick was a fun run all the way through, never a dull moment. Whatever-his-name-is actually played a part I didn't depise and the pretty locations were a great choice. A good "date movie" if you're into that sort of thing, and this one in particular became a personal guilty pleasure of mine.

[Joe Redifer]

I refuse to see this movie because it contains Matthew McConaughey.  He is on my list of hated actors along with John Leguizamo, Diane Keaton and Vince Vaughn.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Goldie Hahn's daughter is always tasty eye candy.

I'm more than willing to tap Kate Hudson for thirty minutes, flip 'er over and hit it for ten more.  Certainly a cutie, that one.

Whoever plays Sutherland's daughter in this movie is fucking hot, I need to go look up who that was.

Alexis Dziena is tasty indeed.  Check her out in the USA show Invasion.

I watched Shaun of the Dead today and enjoyed it somewhat, though probably not enough to label it a classic.  Zombies and humor go quite well together, and the references to Evil Dead, 28 Days Later, and Romero's works were nicely done with smatterings of dry, English wit.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Hot Fuzz now, as well as whatever the third title will be in the trilogy.

[nat]

I refuse to see this movie because it contains Matthew McConaughey.  He is on my list of hated actors along with John Leguizamo, Diane Keaton and Vince Vaughn.

I'm with you 100%, which is one of the major reasons I didn't want to see this movie. Hence the comment:

Whatever-his-name-is actually played a part I didn't despise

I was caught completely off guard however, the chemistry between the actors (all of them) was uncanny.

I watched Shaun of the Dead today and enjoyed it somewhat, though probably not enough to label it a classic.  Zombies and humor go quite well together, and the references to Evil Dead, 28 Days Later, and Romero's works were nicely done with smatterings of dry, English wit.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Hot Fuzz now, as well as whatever the third title will be in the trilogy.

Ha, we had a great time with both of those. Shaun of the Dead is the better flick but if you're any kind of Bond fan (I am) you'll enjoy seeing Timothy Dalton play the anti-Bond in Hot Fuzz. Both those movies will become cult classics, no doubt in my mind. And what's this about a third movie?

[Nazi NecroPhile]

And what's this about a third movie?

Pegg and Wright have referred to the first two movies as part of the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy, or alternately the "Three Flavours of Cornetto".  Apparently, the third one is tentatively titled "Paul" and revolves around a road trip across the U.S.  I haven't a clue when it is supposed to be released.

[nat]

10,000 BC - Cool movie. Went in not expecting to like it much, came out satisfied. It pulls off the "epic movie" thing really well, has a happy ending, and the characters are all likable. Does a good job getting you to care about the people and what happens to them. The only downfall is that the story is pretty predictable and follows the old cliched formula: girl gets kidnadpped, guy goes on a quest to rescue girl, guy rescues girl, everyone lives happily ever after.

[Ceti Alpha]

10,000 BC - Cool movie. Went in not expecting to like it much, came out satisfied. It pulls off the "epic movie" thing really well, has a happy ending, and the characters are all likable. Does a good job getting you to care about the people and what happens to them. The only downfall is that the story is pretty predictable and follows the old cliched formula: girl gets kidnadpped, guy goes on a quest to rescue girl, guy rescues girl, everyone lives happily ever after.

Man, I was going to completely avoid this movie at all cost after this scathing review I saw someone give on CBC. I mean he tore into it hard. lol. But the chick looks hot as hell so I'll check it out regardless. hehe 

[nat]

She's cute, but 90% of the time she's bundled up in animal furs and rags so it's tough to get a good look at her.

What were that reviewer's complaints about the movie?

[Joe Redifer]

It's a rip-off of Apocalypto... IN ENGLISH!

Some cavemen get kidnapped by Egyptians to be slave labor to build the pyramids with the help of wooley mammoths. Along the way they get attacked by some crazy dinosaurs with beaks and feathers.

No, I'm not making this up.

I have always hated Ronald Emmerich.  He sucks ass.  Tha Day Afta Tommrow was a horrible, horrible movie.  Don't make me review that!  So was Independence Day.

[Ceti Alpha]

She's cute, but 90% of the time she's bundled up in animal furs and rags so it's tough to get a good look at her.

I like my girls to be savage a la Nova from Planet of the Apes.  O:)

[nat]

Along the way they get attacked by some crazy dinosaurs with beaks and feathers.

I was wondering about that part. Did they just make those animals up? What the fuck?

I have always hated Ronald Emmerich.  He sucks ass.  Tha Day Afta Tommrow was a horrible, horrible movie.  Don't make me review that!  So was Independence Day.

I'll have to disagree. TDAT wasn't anything special but it wasn't horrible. And back in the day when ID came out, it kicked ass. I haven't actually watched it in like 10 years though so I don't have a fresh perspective on it.

[Joe Redifer]

The Day After Tomorrow was indeed awful unless you were watching purely for the shitastical CGI.  I saw Independence Day 6 months before it was released and it was better then than the final release.  A subsequent recut a couple of months later (a few months before release) was even better, but it still sucked.  The final cut resembled the first cut more than the second.  I never got into calling it "ID4" because that is just retarded.

Oh!  And let's not forget about the truly awful Godzilla from 1998.  Ronald Emmerich truly has no right being alive.

[nat]

I never got into calling it "ID4" because that is just retarded.

You got that right. Who started that? How did they come up with it? Why did it catch on? These are the eternal questions of humanity that need to be answered.

Oh!  And let's not forget about the truly awful Godzilla from 1998.  Ronald Emmerich truly has no right being alive.

I remember seeing Godzilla back in '98 with my girlfriend at the time.

That's funny, now that you mention it, I can see the similarities between all these movies. Who was he? Writer? Director? I'm not familiar with that name (and am too apathetic to Google).

[Kitsunexus]

Donnie Darko - WOW. JUST WOW.  10/10/10/10

Red Dawn - Good, but a bit sappy. 8/10

Dazed And Confused - I was talking trash about this in the shoutbox, but I like it now. 10/10

[Joe Redifer]

Ronald Emmerich is a director/producer/writer who has a taste for the "epic" movie ("bombastic" is probably the more appropriate word) with lots and lots of cheap CGI effects.  Movies he's directed include:

10,000 B.C.
The Day After Tomorrow
The Patriot starring Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson
Godzilla starring everyone's favorite wimp, Matthew Broderick
Independence Day
Stargate - This was crap.  I was forced to verify the print when this came out.  I was paid to do this and I still wanted a refund.
Universal Soldier
Moon 44
Hollywood-Monster
Joey
Arche Noah Prinzip, Das (He's a German guy, after all).
Franzmann (no, this is not a movie about Hanz and Franz).

[MurderDate]

last buncha movies I saw:

THE KING OF KONG - This is the only video game doc I have seen that is any good.  I didn't say I loved it, but it was watchable and had some interesting folks.  Steve Wiebe seems like a solid, genuinely nice guy.  Roy Shildt is always worth a laugh. (I remember reading about him in Answer Me magazine back in highschool!)  Does he make appearances at video game conventions?  Billy Mitchell has kind of lost his mind somewhere over the years and puts on a good show. A bit of a psycho-drama, really.  That was a surprise. Definitely recommended to anyone on this board.

EASTERN PROMISES - Not-bad Russian mob movie.  Doesn't get my highest recommendation but it wasn't awful either. Recent Cronenberg.

CHUCK & BUCK - Hated it; practically everything about it.  Made me feel like I hate LA. I would've guessed this was made in 1995 but it was 2000?  The only worthwhile part of this movie is the latino lady who owns the theatre (she also plays the maid in CLUELESS, a movie about LA that I love). Somehow all of these people need to clear their throat before they speak. It makes me sick to listen to people talk through phlegm like this (I could only take 5 mins of the commentary - it's 10x as bad there.  Is it cool to not clear your throat in LA??).

REST IN PIECES - PORTRAIT OF JOE COLEMAN - eh, artwork is so-so but ego abounds. Yeah, I wish I had some NY art world money coming in so I could hang out in US civil war attire smoking cigars all day too.

THE BIRDS - Hitchcock - classic. No reason to deliberate about it here. Awesome subject matter and air-tight movie making.

THE STORY OF RICKY - Wonderful 90s Hong Kong gore movie - definitely a must see for anyone here.  I have had a third gen VHS tape of a Chinese copy of this (with crappy subtitles) for years - glad to see it a bit clearer on DVD. Notice I said "a bit", as the quality of the DVD picture left much to be desired.

I think that's it for me this week?  I've been watching a shit-ton of LOST (Season 3).  It's pretty good..  some of it is crap but overall I'm impressed. Some of the dialog in the more dramatic moments is laughable (as in bad).  That's TV drama for you. Otherwise, the story has it's worthwhile elements (lotsa twists to explain past events in the storyline - the writers were definitely making this up as they went along) and characters are easy enough to connect with (they were designed that way). 

I need to get a job ! 

[nat]

I like my girls to be savage a la Nova from Planet of the Apes.  O:)

Must be a Canadian thing, eh?

[Ceti Alpha]

Must be a Canadian thing, eh?

lol. I just thought everyone had the hots for Nova. 

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I have always hated Ronald Emmerich.  He sucks ass.  Tha Day Afta Tommrow was a horrible, horrible movie.  Don't make me review that!  So was Independence Day.

Agreed, though his name is Roland.  The only movie of his that I've enjoyed was Stargate, but my enjoyment would better be credited to Russell and Spader than to him.

And back in the day when ID came out, it kicked ass. I haven't actually watched it in like 10 years though so I don't have a fresh perspective on it.

Here's a fresh perspective for ya: it sucks sweaty ball sacks, just like it did in '96. 

[Ceti Alpha]

Here's a fresh perspective for ya: it sucks sweaty ball sacks, just like it did in '96.  Very Happy

Holy crap!! It was 12 years ago that piece of crap movie came out?! Crazy. In any case, Emmerich has a really crappy resumé.

[Kitsunexus]

Wow. To say Trainspotting is a good movie is an UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE MOST SEVERE KIND. 


Not that I was ever going to, but now I am 100000% sure I will NEVER do heroin. EVER.

[MissaFX]

We are the Strange
Don't let the name of the film maker "M. dot Strange" keep you from watching this gem.  It's part stop motion, part mirriors and crystals, part Mario Paint (!) and part 3-D CG with hardly any dialog and a mixture of 8bit and normal music through out.  The case says it combines "8bit graphics with anime" but Mario Paint is 16bit unless I am mistaken, and there is hardly any anime.  I guess they figured those two words would sell it.  It's really part Svankmajer, part laser light show and part acid trip.  Or maybe it is the type of movie Svankmajer would do if he was 30 years old.  It's slow, hard to follow at times but is a breathtaking experience if you will only let yourself sit down and watch through it from beginning to end.

The kicker is though that once you have watched the movie you discover you have wasted your time...In the extras you can play the movie with deleted scenes added back into it.  Yeah, I watched it twice, in a row...and it was actually more enjoyable the second time through because you have some clue of what the hell is going on.

I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.  With more dialog though it really could have been a 5 star movie.

For those of you who will never see the movie, I am going to put a small text spoiler you can paste somewhere else to tell you what happens in the movie:

A girl gets fired from her job as a stripper because everytime she speaks, her skin errupts into a rash.  She wanders through a creepy forest, stumbling upon a boy.  The boy and her go to the city to get ice cream.  When they arrive at the city the icecream store is closed and the girls boss is killing everyone.  The boy does his best to kill the boss, but he ends up destroying nearly everything and he thinks everyone he cares about is dead.  However the girl ends up being alive and she tells her boss to shut up, thus killing him.  The end. (yeah, that took 2 hours for the movie to convey)

[Keranu]

King of Kong - MUST SEE! Billy Mitchell has a new challenger against his ground breaking Donkey Kong high score in the 80's. The challenger, Steve Wiebe, soon realizes that numbers don't matter as Billy and his disciples will do anything to prevent his high score from getting broke. This documentary is extremely well made and not just some amateur online gaming forum film or something like that. Even non-gamers will enjoy it!

[MurderDate]

that's two votes for THE KING OF KONG.  It's actually turning into kind of a cult hit.  People really like it - people and gamers alike. The characters are so over the top.  Like I said , Billy Mitchell is insane !!  Beyond socially awkward.   Excellent movie.

more movies:   STREET TRASH (yay), DEADBEAT AT DAWN (yay), BASKET CASE (yay), BRAINDEAD (yay), PARIS IS BURNING (yay), BLUE WATER WHITE DEATH (extreme yay), 60 SPINS AROUND THE SUN (yay), POUND (nah)

gonna watch THE HOST today.. looks awesome

[Sinistron]

Yeah my girl loved King of Kong and she couldn't give a shit about historic video games. 

Joel- The Host- good flick.

[Kitsunexus]

People really like it - people and gamers alike.

I forgot we aren't people, we're just energy drink zombies. "BAAAAWWWWLLLLS......BAWWWWWLLLLSSSS".


Anyway, I bought Jackie Brown, it's a good movie.

[Ceti Alpha]

Anyway, I bought Jackie Brown, it's a good movie.

It certainly is. It's a story - point A to point B. 

[MurderDate]

JACKIE BROWN is good but COFFEY and CLEOPATRA JONES are surely better.

[TR0N]

King of Kong - MUST SEE! Billy Mitchell has a new challenger against his ground breaking Donkey Kong high score in the 80's. The challenger, Steve Wiebe, soon realizes that numbers don't matter as Billy and his disciples will do anything to prevent his high score from getting broke. This documentary is extremely well made and not just some amateur online gaming forum film or something like that. Even non-gamers will enjoy it!

Now if some body could get chaseing the ghost on dvd.

[Ceti Alpha]

Yeah, King of Kong is the shit!

[nat]

Star Trek - I've been a rabid Trek fan since the 80s, before TNG hit screens. I'm not old enough to have seen TOS in it's original run during the 60s, but I saw 'em all by the time Encounter at Farpoint (first TNG episode) came around. I was just a kid but I grew up loving TOS, and later TNG to a lesser degree.

So I took my wife, who has never sat through an entire Trek episode outside of The Doomsday Machine. She loved it! Wants to go back and watch all the TOS episodes now. Lots and lots of "homage" and reference moments in this movie that I picked up on. My favorite is early in the movie, when the Captain of the Kelvin is being brought on board Nero's vessel, the orifice his shuttle enters through opens in a strikingly similar manner to the orifice of the V'Ger vessel in the first TOS film. Lots and lots of little moments like this scattered throughout. Anyway, as a movie in general this one was amazingly well done. Best movie I've seen in a while, and that's speaking just as a general moviegoer and not a Trek fan. As a matter of fact, as a Trek fan, I'm still on the fence about how I feel about it. I'm not overly thrilled with introduction of this alternate timeline, but my feelings on that may change as I get used to the idea. I'll say more on specifics once more people see it as I don't want to spoil too much.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, especially those who think they "don't like Star Trek" as this movie will undoubtedly change your opinion a bit.

[Lord Thag]

Agreed, just saw it last night. Outstanding flick. They did a great job with the casting, and they captured the feel and tone of the old show whil updating it and making it feel very modern.

I give it an A, and I don't really like Star Trek all that much. If they made an actual series with these actors, I'd be glued to the set.

[Arjak]

Saw this at the sneak preview the night before it opened in my town, (Thursday, May 7, 2009) with my Dad. We're both casual Star Trek fans, and I thought the movie was pretty good!

I loved the mixture of freshness and familiarity, and I thought the casting and writing was excellent.

My only complaint was that it felt more like Star Wars than Star Trek at times. But besides that, I was completely enthralled. I loved the cast, I thought they did a wonderful job of channeling the original cast.

One of my favorite moments was the skydive onto the drill early in the movie. When I saw that redshirt going with them, I smiled. I KNEW what would happen, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I think that had to be the most spectacular redshirt death I've ever seen.

I loved the humor, the whole audience erupted with laughter throughout the movie, and my favorite joke has to be when Kirk meets Old Spock. What Kirk says has to be one of the most hilariously ironic moments in Star Trek history.

I liked seeing Kirk cheating the Kobiyashi Maru, but I kept wondering throughout the scenes at the academy when we would meet Fennigan! (See Shore Leave from the Orrignal Series).

So, overall, the movie, despite a few small disappointments, was great. My Dad liked it too, comparing it to Wrath of Khan, his (and many Trekkies') favorite Star Trek movie.

I will definitely be buying this when it comes out on Bluray! (I'm trying to save for a PS3)

[Ceti Alpha]

I also liked the movie.

*Minor Spoilers below*

The Kobyashi Maru test scene was awesome. I loved the wink and nod to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with Kirk eating the apple during the test. In TWOK Kirk was eating an apple in the Genesis cave when he was explaining to Savik how he beat/cheated the Kobyashi Maru test.

I loved Bruce Greenwood as Pike. Just super cool and funny. I also loved his Star Trek: The Motion Picture admiral uniform at the end of the movie. The entire cast did a superb job actually.

Regarding the Star Wars feel, I just never got that. Sure there were more weird aliens hanging around, but other Star Trek movies had that - namely Star Trek III. I guess the movie wasn't an allegory for contemporary social/political issues like many other Treks, but this was an origin story. Now that the crew is united there will ample opportunity to go there in sequels. But it's not like Star Trek has always been purely allegorical.

[guyjin]

I also liked the new trek movie, a lot. it was fun. But I have 2 issues with it. (spoilers)

1) the continuity reset. they're doing them every 5 years in comics now, and they're getting ever closer together.
The first time they did it (crisis on infinite earths) it made sense, because there was a whole bunch of silly shit from a ways back that had to be deat with. However, it created its own problem; it makes authors more likely to make screwy story decisions, since there's less risk; it can be fixed in the next reset. and oh, have they been making some screwy stories lately.
I really don't want that to happen to Trek.

2) Iowa looks NOTHING like the movie says. Unless we really get beat with the global warming stick.

[Ceti Alpha]

I also liked the new trek movie, a lot. it was fun. But I have 2 issues with it. (spoilers)

1) the continuity reset. they're doing them every 5 years in comics now, and they're getting ever closer together.
The first time they did it (crisis on infinite earths) it made sense, because there was a whole bunch of silly shit from a ways back that had to be deat with. However, it created its own problem; it makes authors more likely to make screwy story decisions, since there's less risk; it can be fixed in the next reset. and oh, have they been making some screwy stories lately.
I really don't want that to happen to Trek.

2) Iowa looks NOTHING like the movie says. Unless we really get beat with the global warming stick.

Well, fortunately it's not a total reset/reboot. Instead it's just an alternate reality like the Mirror Universe. There's no way they could have gotten away with a complete reboot of Star Trek, but this way they don't have to pay attention to 40 years of Star Trek canon.

What's funny is that the Enterprise TV series is the only series that remains canon in this Star Trek universe. They even reference it in the movie.

[guyjin]

What's funny is that the Enterprise TV series is the only series that remains canon in this Star Trek universe. They even reference it in the movie.

Really?

Ew.

[Lord Thag]

I agree, this movie was just great. They got rid of all the prentension, and all of that damned annoying techno-babble about quantum phase whatchits and tachyon streams, and the got the show back to it's roots. They remembered that it was the characters that made the original show good, not all the space flair and effects shots.

What really impressed me was how well they captured the chemistry between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. All three actors did a great job. Quinto was damned near indistinguishable from Nimoy (at that age), Karl Urban did a dead perfect McCoy ("....green blooded hobgoblin"  ), and Kirk ... I'll dare to come out and say that I like the new Kirk better than the original.

I also liked the fact that they let Scotty and Checkov stay a bit over-the-top, like the old show. Both were excellent, and Simon Pegg was just hilarious. Plus, in terms of music and special effects, I love the visula update, and the new music.

I used to watch the old show as a kid, but I am not in any way shape or form a trekkie, but after this movie, I think I might become a fan. They returned the show to it's roots and realized that it's a character-driven adventure story.

Best surprise hit of the year.

[Ceti Alpha]

What's funny is that the Enterprise TV series is the only series that remains canon in this Star Trek universe. They even reference it in the movie.

Really?

Ew.

Well, barely a reference. But, it is a little disturbing that Enterprise is canon in both universes.  hehe

I agree, this movie was just great. They got rid of all the prentension, and all of that damned annoying techno-babble about quantum phase whatchits and tachyon streams, and the got the show back to it's roots. They remembered that it was the characters that made the original show good, not all the space flair and effects shots.

What really impressed me was how well they captured the chemistry between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. All three actors did a great job. Quinto was damned near indistinguishable from Nimoy (at that age), Karl Urban did a dead perfect McCoy ("....green blooded hobgoblin"  ), and Kirk ... I'll dare to come out and say that I like the new Kirk better than the original.

I used to watch the old show as a kid, but I am not in any way shape or form a trekkie, but after this movie, I think I might become a fan. They returned the show to it's roots and realized that it's a character-driven adventure story.

The technobabble had gotten way out of control, about the time when TNG appeared on the scene, actually. Gene Roddenberry, during the run of TOS, made it clear that he did not want Star Trek to be about the technology. He wanted the show to be about people who happen to be in outer space. Actually, the first couple of seasons of TNG, while GR was still alive, didn't have much technobabble. 

Karl Urban was fantastic. He was the only actor who actually made no apologies for trying to imitate his predecessor (DeForest Kelly). As for Chris Pine making a better Kirk than Shatner...I can't quite bring myself to say that. hehe. Pine was fantastic though. He actually impressed me the most out of the whole cast. Though Bruce Greenwood as Pike was amazing as well.

[nat]

I loved the console lamps on the bridge with the long necks that were an obvious homage to the retarded intercom/lamps in the first few episodes of TOS.

[Lord Thag]

Yeah, from an acting standpoint, I was probably the most impressed with Karl Urban. To be honest, up to yesterday, I thought his acting ability stopped at scowling and looking conflicted.  My bad. He did a wonderful job. I'd damn near swear he was channeling the ghost of old DeForest kelly.

Good mention on Bruce Greenwood, he was very believeable and convincing. My only gripes were the totally unnecessary 'giant critter' & 'water pipe' scenes, and the fact that the romulan Nero needed a bit more fleshing out.

All in all though, JJ Abrams did a great job. This was a HELL of a lot better than Springfield 

[Ceti Alpha]

I loved the console lamps on the bridge with the long necks that were an obvious homage to the retarded intercom/lamps in the first few episodes of TOS.

hahaha. Totally.

And Scotty's pet companion is actually a midget version of one of those dune bug aliens from Nemesis. 

[guyjin]

Oh, I just remembered something else that bugged me about the movie.

Early on, there's a throwaway scene where checkov has difficulty getting the computer to understand his voice.
And yet, they can understand the bad guy's language, no problem. Is there a universal translator or isn't there?!