Star Trek The Next Generation: The Next Level Blu-Ray (4 out of 5)
I'm an avowed Trekkie. There's no shame in saying it. From the old days of the one-and-a-half battles Captain Kirk used to get into in front of passable B-grade actors, all the way to the most recent JJ Abrams reboot, I've always been one to devour every story the good people over at Paramount have thrown my way, as I looked forward to futuristic tales of exploration and adventure.
Imagine my happiness as I discovered Paramount had released the Original Series on Blu-Ray, offering all 79 episodes in top notch glory to their millions of fans, all eager to relive the adventures of Kirk and crew.
This left the question of whether we'd ever see the later crews of the U.S.S. Enterprise and other valiant teams of the Trek universe, grave our screens in the inevitable 1080p format which has become the go-to standard for TV and movie visual excellence.
I posed this very question to the vice president of Paramount's Home Video division, during a business lunch in Toronto in the summer of 2010. My query was to the effect that the success of TOS (as The Original Series is known to fans) would certainly warrant an equal response towards the clear successor, The Next Generation. My gracious host responded in the inquisitive, stating that the original episodes had been originally shot in 35 mm format, after which digital effects had been added, but then all edited in the era's ubiquitous VHS format.
Having assumed the herculean feat of upconverting all original footage was all but impossible, imagine my surprise when I discovered that Paramount had announced they had revisited thousands upon thousands (upon further thousands! Dare we speak millions?) of feet of original Next Gen footage, in order to bring legions of Trekkies what they'd been hoping for, a taste of the Picard crew, in glorious high definition.
The resulting product? The Next Level, a sample kit featuring three very different episodes, ranging from the uneven but still familiar pilot, all the way to a Klingon-heavy storyline from the third season, and ending with a fan favorite featuring Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) living an entire lifetime as a resident of an alien planet threatened with global apocalypse.
While Paramount teases that all season will soon hit shelves in their entirety, all remastered with 7.1 sound and pristine video quality, these three episodes are ample proof that there is definitely some tasty pudding to be found here.
While I agree that there is a certain level of silliness to the primitive pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", it's still fun to revisit yet-untested actors barely finding their footing in roles which would later define their very careers. The visual effects weren't exactly redone à-la TOS, but all the same the very act of cleaning up each frame of footage has made this series worth watching again.
To make a long story short, or should I say to abbreviate "a continuing mission?" If this sample set is any indication of the level of commitment a studio makes regarding one of its most cherished franchises, the future seems like a very nice place to be...and the final frontier just got a little closer.
Drive (3.5 out of 5)
Much has been said about 2011 having been "The Year of Gosling", what with his presence in no less than three major movies, including this one (Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March being the other two). With a solid story about a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a criminal getaway driver, Drive made a lot of noise during film fests, most of it aimed at director Nicolas Winding Refn's masterful reinvention of the Los Angeles heist film genre, featuring some pretty impressive performances by the likes of Gosling, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston and Crowd favorite Albert Brooks.
I truly enjoyed this film, though it didn't always ring true to my ears. While the characters in the story are pretty well defined, I felt the actors portraying them had more to offer than the limited roles they played in the story altogether. Oh, to imagine what more could have been done by Brooks and Cranston, both standouts in this film.
Let's not forget the fact the film is well-paced, carefully edited and seems every inch the tribute to its L.A. based crime predecessors. The movie isn't necessarily Gosling's vehicle (no pun intended here, ha!), it's more of a lucky happenstance in which gifted, underrated actors get to have some fun playing it meaner and vicarious.
Having seen this film in both the big screen and home video format, I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a fun escapist flick for the weekend. It's either that or rediscovering really good Star Trek , seriously.
In Time (3 out of 5)
Justin Timberlake plays a factory worker in the year 2161, where people have ceased to age and time has become the de rigueur currency, allowing all to appear to be 25 but in reality being anywhere from the obvious 25 years of age, to being centuries old. Think of it as life in the fastlane, if the highway is Father Time himself.
Timberlake's character performs a selfless good deed towards a time-wealthy upper-class fellow who decides to transfer over a century of life to his benefactor, having become sick of living forever. This turns our boy band hero into a potential criminal fugitive, being accused of stealing time from the rich.
This is the newest foray into futuristic drama by director Andrew Niccol, whose Gattaca explored similar moral issues, in that case that of genetic purity in lieu of social advancement. This film goes that way for a while, until it unfortunately introduces Amanda Seyfried into the mix. A mess of temporal proportions ensues. The film could have benefited from a much better structured story, but mangles its own narrative halfway through. A good premise, though, I'll give it that.
Hot in Cleveland Season 2 (3 out of 5)
Having seen a handful of episodes from the first season of this fairly funny comedy series, I expected the second season would continue to revolve heavily around aging star Betty White's harmless star appeal. Her character Elke gets into so many misadventures that she invariably drags her three relatively younger co-stars (Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Mallick) down along with her.
Case in point, Season Two starts off with the elderly Elke in the slammer, pouring her heart out about unrevealed past deeds, including affairs with men attached to her co-stars, a potentially explosive revelation about her late husband's real past, and so on.
Honestly, it doesn't take much to get drawn into this pretty funny series. Of all the Golden Girls of old, I still think White was the funniest. This show confirms my findings.
Dream House (2 out of 5)
I gave this film the benefit of the doubt, what with the plot involving a man (Daniel "James Bond" Craig) who moves into a house with his family, only to discover murders took place there five years prior....only the man in question may have been the only survivor. Also, his family isn't really real. Get it?
Yes, the convoluted plot tries very hard to play with the concept of one's sanity and the effect it has on one's perception of such. How very Cronenberg. Sadly, when you have seen the ill-conceived movie trailer (which reveals EVERYTHING, by the by) and find yourself wishing you hadn't, you suddenly don't get too much of a traumatic shock when you learn that celebrated director Jim Sheridan apparently tried to go all Alan Smithee on this cinematic mess. Some of you may try and enjoy this film, I found it to be a predictable bore.
Psychological thriller? Horror film? I'm still not sure. A fair try, but way too short of the mark.
Breakaway (1 out of 5)
This Canadian "gem" has all the essential elements: a Sikh hockey team managed by Mr. Youngblood" himself, Rob Lowe; an opposing team of mostly whites clearly set on pummeling these strange foreigners to the sport. Throw in a love story and an aspiration to greatness and self-realization, perhaps?
Then again, maybe not. Despite the inclusion of extremely popular comedian Russell Peters to the cast, there is nothing of value to be found in this seemingly proud Canadian product. A pity, really. I still don't get how someone thought this concept was marketable. Sigh. Another great looking but perfectly useless homegrown movie.
Also on Blu-Ray This Week
My favorite re-release of the week comes in the form of the darling film of 1998, the truly inventive British romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. Fans of the Bard enjoyed it then and will do so even more now, while those interested in the lavish costumes worn in this Best Picture Oscar winner, should really get a kick out of the fine detail the 1080 resolution brings to the overall product.
Director John Madden comments on one of the audio track, and some deleted scenes and features on the costumes are also included.
If period pieces aren't your cup o' team, then fans of Michael Bay, master of overblown explosive blockbusters, rejoice! Paramount has released an all-out, spruced-up, four-disc version of last summer's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, including a très cool 3-D version to boot! Now you can enjoy an extra dimension of LeBoeuf goodness! Honestly, though, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks awesome in 3-D. Professionally speaking. Ahem.
Dominic Messier - Dominic Messier is a Toronto-based Film & TV writer, Sci-Fi TV and Film Dramas Topic Editor, and creator of PopCultureLandscape.com
