World in the Satin Bag

World in the Satin Bag

Movie Review: Star Trek (A more optimistic view of Abrams’ future and his film)

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I would love to insert a witty (A.K.A cringe-inducing) quote from previous Star Trek installments here to start this review off but unfortunately, if this movie is any indicator at least, I have no prior knowledge on any star trek canon beyond the simple “Beam me up Scotty” and Spock’s death grip. Even though I had no knowledge on the matter I still wasted no chance to ridicule anyone who showed a particular liking towards the series or anything having to do with the series. I unfairly mocked Trekkies and upheld Star Wars’ superiority; an upheld opinion I still see as true. Today I am glad to report that all my previous judgments have been turned over and I send an apology to any Star Trek fan I may have mocked in the fan because I believe, unlike my good friend Shaun, that this movie was amazing and beyond anything I could have expected. The film starts off immediately with U.S.S Kelvin (I apologize in advance for any misspelled ships or creatures since I have no idea as to anything about them prior to hearing about them in this movie) being attacked by a Romulan ship led by the evil captain Nero (Eric Bana). Right off the top the visuals are stunning with Nero’s ship, which is this massive mining vessel that just reeks of evil, emerging from a lightning storm in space in front of a miniscule by comparison Kelvin. Nero summons the captain onto his ship and immediately kills him upon learning that he knows nothing about anyone named Spock, who Nero is searching for, and proceeds to attack the ship. The new captain George Kirk valiantly flies his ship into Nero’s giving his wife enough time to escape and give birth to their newly christened child Jim. Fast forward years later and we are introduced to the characters of Spock and Kirk as children and then adults ready to enlist in Starfleet which sets the movie in motion. There is much to rave about this movie and it has been hyped up since the beginning, but the first place that really succeeds, or the backbone of it all, is the story. It’s a complex tale revolving around the introduction of all the original crew members and also adding to the mix a time travel bit which sets up an alternate existence. Without getting too much into spoilers let me quickly remark that while some people (cough cough) have found parts of this time travel arc ridiculous beyond any means or reason, I myself found it extraordinary not only in the fact that it serves great purpose to the story itself, but that it also manages to set up this prequel perfectly by having the time travel create this set of characters as an parallel universe to the original characters and storylines. So in the show apparently Spock was never captain and Kirk’s father never died, well this new movie changes that and it allows for introductions of all of the characters once more and wonderfully builds those characters from the ground up which is I why I think someone like me, who had no previous knowledge, could enjoy it so much. So you have the story and you have the effects, and that’s better than most movies get these days (I’m looking at you Wolverine), but it’s not over yet. People still had to worry about the acting and how these new people were going to revive or ruin the characters that they had grown to love and after seeing this movie I have to say that I don’t think any one of those characters could have been replaced. (With the exception of maybe Uhuru.) The acting was just so good in this movie that you could probably sit down watching these characters talk to each other in a white room and you wouldn’t get bored of it. First you have Chris Pine as Kirk, who is really just a stupid college kid who gets into trouble a lot and has no real goals in life. I never really bought this guy as someone who could lead a starship or do anything (in other words, he was NOT Kirk.) Especially since he seemed to get his ass kicked in every scene that he fought in, but then at the very end you can see that he has grown as a person, and as he majestically takes his seat on the enterprise you know that he is now Kirk. Eric Bana isn’t amazing as Nero, but he does an ok job, and I bought him as a villain, although if we’re going to nitpick and I had to find something wrong with this movie I would have to say this; If you watch your planet get destroyed as Nero did and then get sent back in time (Way back in time) wouldn’t the first thing you try to do be… save your planet and not wait around looking for a man? That’s might just be me though. Of course while Kirk may be the lead character in this film, the big show stealer is his future partner in crime Spock played by Zachary Quinto from Heroes, and Quinto is, well, amazing. There was not a second that went by in this movie that I doubted him as Spock, and I didn’t even know who Spock was. I just knew that every line that he delivered was perfect and by the time he pulled the infamous Death Grip on Kirk I was jumping up and down my seat with the knowledge that if all else fails, at least there was one amazing performance that came with this. Apart from the major characters all of the side characters get their parts done well too. What I like particularly is that none of the crew members that we are introduced to are expendable. They are each shown to us and instead of disappearing into the background immediately to be used

World in the Satin Bag

To Shut Up or Not to Shut Up: Should Authors Respond to Reviews?

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I think this whole discussion needs to be prefaced by an entirely different discussion on cause and effect. Nobody has the right to tell you that you are not allowed to do something. You can do anything you want in this world, but you must always face the consequences of your actions. If you murder someone you cannot expect that there will be no repercussions, particularly in a place like the United States where you will be prosecuted and either imprisoned or put to death if you are caught and found guilty of such a crime. The same can be said of how an author behaves. Yes, you can act any way you please, but you also have to acknowledge that your actions will create certain responses from your would-be readers. This is a reality that all authors must face, and it isn’t helped by the fact that already the process of getting and being published is like going through a meat grinder that never turns off–there will always be people who dislike your work and possibly even dislike you. With that in mind we can return to the original point of this discussion: should authors respond to reviews? If they want to, yes. The problem with author responses in the blogosphere isn’t so much that bloggers don’t want authors to respond, it is that some of us have had bad experiences with it and would rather you keep out of it if you’re unable to act in a manner that is becoming of an author (a great example of a horrible situation can be found here). Not all of us can be Harlan Ellison who, let’s be frank here, gets away with behavior that most people couldn’t get away with if their lives depended on it–a fact, I suspect, has something to do with a strange fascination people have with a man who is not at all afraid to say whatever the hell he wants. Authors should consider how they are going to respond to a review or a discussion of their work. Bloggers are not at all against the idea of an author coming in to get a better understanding of a particular point, and if your intention is to understand the criticism in order to improve your writing, there is no contention with that either. But if your intention is to argue with a blogger, that’s where the problems arise. Nobody wants to have to deal with an author who can’t accept that an individual’s opinion is their own. We don’t want to hear why we’re wrong in our review and why clearly we didn’t get what you were trying to do. All of that is irrelevant, because we all have unique reading experiences. As an author, you need to ask yourself a question: Is sacrificing your career worth it in order to argue with a reviewer over some point they made? And if your intention is not to argue, but to understand, a good way to go about this would to be preface your questions with that information. Bloggers are not going to universally pan you for trying to get a better understanding of the criticism lobbed at your work. In fact, they may even praise you for trying to be active in the reviewing community, particularly because that tells them that their opinions actually matter to you, that you give a crap what they think, and that you may, in fact, take much of what they have said to heart for your next work of fiction. But be conscious of the consequences of argumentation in the blogosphere, because what you do online can and does have an affect on you as a professional. You will be looked down upon if you act childishly, and for good reason. What do you all think about this? If you’ve written blog posts about it, let me know in the comments. P.S.: Some other instances can be found here and here.

World in the Satin Bag

Movie Review: Star Trek (Why It Sucks and Why Abrams Needs to Stop)

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I’ve never been a huge Star Trek fan. I like Star Trek and have seen most of the movies and quite a bit of the television shows, but I’ve always been more into Star Wars because I grew up with it1. That said, what I have always liked about Star Trek is that it pushes the boundaries of the real while also trying not to be too, well, out there, with some exceptions, of course. I had high hopes for the new Star Trek. As soon as I knew it was going to be made, I couldn’t help but be excited. From the mysterious nature of its initial exposure to the public to its handful of flashy trailers, Star Trek had been shaping up to be something truly special. But then J. J. Abrams got his hands on the new Star Trek. I don’t know how this craptastic of a movie-maker managed to wrap his slimy little fingers around one of the greatest science fiction franchises in history (rivaled only by Star Wars), but he did and now we’re stuck with a movie that is, unfortunately, a crapfest. I know that Abrams has been behind it for a while–well before the trailers and the website–but I had been under the illusion that someone else was directing this film, that it was in capable of hands. And I even went into this movie setting aside all my hatreds for Abrams2, hoping that maybe he’d redeem himself by providing a well-rounded, damn good flick that captured much of the magic of the original series. But no. Not even close. (Spoilers ahead…)The new Star Trek begins with a bang. Some Romulan miner from the future named Nero is pissed off because his home planet has been/will be destroyed by a supernova. He blames Spock and the Federation for letting his people be eradicated and decides to go back in time to exact his revenge. Back home, after Nero destroys a federation ship and Kirk’s baby form escapes, grown up Kirk gets prompted on a dare to join Starfleet and be all he can be and other such ridiculousness. Nero attacks Vulcan, and hi jinks ensue. That’s the basic gist of the story, and certainly the first half of the movie is worthy of the Star Trek title. But that’s when everything falls apart. What was already a time-laden plot line becomes convoluted with absurdities that expose a gaping hole of amateur writing and directing. It was easy enough to accept one time traveling character, because Nero is essentially the central conflict of the story, but when you decide to have two time traveling characters, one of which literally has no business being there at all other than to provide a pointless, meaningless sidetrack for Kirk to follow, you’re flirting with the edges of continuity. In fact, the second time traveling character has no purpose being in this movie other than to provide the writers/directors an easy out, a way of getting past the difficult hole they dug themselves into by making Spock and Kirk practically sworn enemies, to shove in a character who probably should have been there earlier, and a way of inserting Leonard Nemoy into the movie so he can go off on a big flashback where he tells us everything. And I do mean this literally that after the halfway mark the plot of Star Trek becomes less about furthering the story and more about finding ways to dig oneself out of a hole with cheap tricks and illogical idiocies that make one wonder whether there was any point at all to the whole thing. The absurdities, however, do not end there. The directing/editing for the film is absolutely wretched, with entire subplots being inserted in hamfisted glory into the narrative, with no clear reason for them to be there. Uhura, thus, is the most pointless character in the film, which is sad considering she is also the only significant female character in it. We’re supposed to accept at face value that Spock and Uhura are an item, but we never understand where it comes from or whether it existed before Kirk met Uhura. In fact, we don’t know anything about this relationship, yet it’s shoved into our view as something that should be taken seriously as part of the rivalry between Spock and Kirk. Uhura thus becomes nothing more than another item for Abrams to dangle over us to fulfil some other plot line as if to whore out Uhura to the whims of continuity. In addition to the ridiculousness of the plot, the cast is a mixed bag for a movie that’s supposed to be reviving the greatness of Star Trek. While Scotty, McCoy, and Spock are perfectly cast, the remaining classic Star Trek characters are mediocre at best. Uhura is utterly pointless; the fellow who plays Chekov manages to turn the character into a comedic farce a la Epic/Scary/etc. Movie; Sulu lacks some of the original charm of the character; and Kirk, worst of all, is not even Kirk at all, but an absurdly arrogant delinquent who fails to fit into the shoes once worn by Shatner. I understand trying to upgrade the characters, but this is clearly the wrong direction. Kirk never hits his stride in this new incarnation; in fact, there is almost no growth for Kirk, except that he befriends Spock in the end, but only because Abrams inexpertly inserted future Spock to make it happen. What a great way to try to develop a character by essentially cheating and telling us that there’s no reason for Star Trek to remain true to its form, because one can simply fabricate a time traveling elf at will to manipulate other characters into doing the will of the directorial gods. Other issues I had with the film are primarily nitpicks. I appreciated the re-imagined Enterprise and the upgrading of the look of the Federation, but I had issues with other designs in the film. The

World in the Satin Bag

SF/F Links: Another May Linkup

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I’ve got so many links to interesting articles it’s ridiculous. I’ll have another post going up at some point later on in the month too, by the way. Anyway, here are this batch’s links: Here is a really interesting reading list. Some science fiction and fantasy, and some other interesting titles. What happens to your MMORPG characters when you die? This seems so…bizarre and ridiculous. Is online gaming culture this obsessed? Scratch that, they are, I’m just not ready to face it yet. Publiteriat has a great article on three myths in writing. Well worth checking out. Sharon’s Share tells us about a site called Ether Pad, which might be useful for collaborative writing projects. Hmm. Ivor W. Hartmann: New African genre fiction superstar? You be the judge. The Book Publicity Blog talks about sending review copies to bloggers (part two, apparently). Centurean2 has an amazingly long and detailed post about the terrible things happening to freedom in England right now. That’s right: England. One of the supposedly free lands. Read it. It’s disturbing and terrifying. Jeremiah Tolbert tells us about five books on writing that made him a better writer. Might be worth checking out. He also has a list of five lies writers believe about editors, which is quite humorous and pretty much all true. Oh and don’t forget his argument about why Jason Stoddard is wrong about SF (a bit old, but it’s an interesting argument on both sides). Horror World talks about a possible future model for short fiction. It’s interesting and might work. And that’s it for the links this time around! Hope you found them interesting.

World in the Satin Bag

Silly Reader Questions: Klingons, Ferengi, the Amazing Randi and Dollars For Paranormals

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The other day a couple folks on twitter sent me two silly questions to blog about here on WISB. I’m quite fond of silly questions, by the way, but that’s really not the point. The point is, I’m going answer these questions posing as a hamster…okay, so I’m not going to do that, but I am going to answer the questions. First up, Mulluane asks a surprisingly open question: Klingon or Ferengi? This is another of those questions that doesn’t specify what it is asking. Is it asking which I like best, which I think I might be, or something else? And, as with the last time this happened, I’m going to answer this question with responses to each possibility. If I had to pick which Star Trek species I’d want to be, it would have to be the Klingons, only because I find the Ferengi to be remarkably disgusting, vile creatures, and at least the Klingons have some sort of logical honor built into their system–the Ferengi would probably sell their own mothers for a quick buck. That, and I don’t see the Ferengi as a particularly ferocious species, which poses problems for me because I’m not really one to cower in a corner when the world is ending. But, I’m also probably strange enough to be more Ferengi than Klingon. As much as I might envision myself as the warrior type, I’m not, and perhaps my personality does fit well within the Ferengi mythos. I’ll just keep it in my head that I’m more Klingon that slimy two-timer with bad teeth–of course, the Klingons lack dental hygiene as well, but at least they don’t look like something that might crawl out of a toilet…or do they? As for which I prefer, well, I think it’s pretty obvious. As much as the Klingons may be wicked bastards in the show and films, they are also pretty badass, and I think that’s important, don’t you? They make for fairly reliable villains, which runs contrary to the Ferengi, who I can only remember as sneaky bartenders thanks to the crapfest that was DS9.—————– The second question cam from GothixHalo: Do you think anyone will ever win the $1,000,000 prize offered by the Amazing Randi for real paranormal abilities? Someone is actually willing to waste that kind of money trying to find something as ridiculous as that? Really? If you’re going to just toss away money to some quack who happens to fool you, you might as well just drop it off on my doorstep. At least I’ll put it to good use buying books and what not. No, I don’t think anyone will ever legitimately win that prize. Someone may trick the Amazing Randi by putting on one hell of a show, but I do not think that anyone will win such a thing by actually having paranormal abilities that were not crafted through some sort of genetic engineering. I do think that paranormal abilities are a possibility, but I don’t believe in any of the pseudoscience mumbo-jumbo spouted by the idiots who host all the ghost hunting and talk-to-your-dead-puppy shows. Such abilities do not exist and people who claim to have them are either putting on a show for their fifteen minutes of fame (or a quick buck), or they’re simply insane. Either way, they’re entertaining, so I won’t deny them the right to prance around pretending to talk to Abraham Lincoln and all that nonsense. Simply put, the Amazing Randi should take his money elsewhere. At least the $500,000 offered up for a monster-sized snake is realistic, considering that it’s possible a python or anaconda could reach lengths of one hundred feet…——————- And that’s it. If you have any silly questions, feel free to email them to me at arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, leave them in the comments section of this post (or any post for that matter), or send them as a reply to my twitter account. And if you like this post, please stumble or digg it! Thanks!

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