Swollen Pickles

I walked out of the cinema after watching the latest Star Trek moving scratching my head. Why? I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not. Friends have asked me what I thought of it, and the best I have been able to muster is an "it was ok".

Off the bat, I'm not a Star Trek fan. I never watched the show and having seen any of the previous movies, besides three quarters of the Wrath of Khan. My Star Trek knowledge is limited to years of pop culture references. I've heard of Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, the beam me up Scotty guy and the Klingon's. I say this because walking into the cinema I had no idea of any of the main characters origin stories therefore the first half of the film was, I thought, a good introduction to them and the whole Star Trek universe.

Basically the film opens with a space battle. Two ships square off against one another, the good guys in a little ship and the bad guys, led by Eric Bana, in the bigger ship. The bad guys win, but not before Captain Kirk's dad is killed and his mother is jettisoned off in an escape ship giving birth to little Kirk in the process. Kirk is apparently a smart cookie wasting his talents on a life of delinquency. That is, until he enrolls in Star Fleet. Skip three years into the future and Kirk has finished his training, just in time to find himself on board the Enterprise as it heads to Vulcan on a rescue mission. Vulcan is being attacked by Eric Bana. It's bad. The planet is doomed.

Satisfied at the destruction of Vulcan, Eric Bana and his merry men head for earth to stage a repeat performance. Can Star Fleet stop them?

It's around this stage that things got a little weird and/or confusing for me. It was at this point that we were introduced to the 'old' Spock. It was also at this point that the film makers decided to introduce time travel and dimensional travel.

From my point of view, it seemed like this element of the story was introduced to appease hardcore Star Trekkers and provide a link between this film and all the movies and TV shows that preceded it. You can picture the script writers sitting around in a room thinking to themselves, "how can we reboot the series while still retaining some link to the original? I know... alternate timeline/dimension!". Combining the 'original' Star Trek with the 'reboot' Star Trek lost me. Perhaps the producers were trying to satisfy the die-hard fans as well as the casual movie goer? In the end though, they may have failed to satisfy either group.

Star Trek did have its good points. The special effects were impressive and the plot cracked along at a decent pace.

Some of the initial reviews I saw referred to Star Trek as re-energizing a tired franchise, but I wouldn't go that far. In the end, with time travel exposition, standard revenge driven theme and it's rather convoluted plot, Star Trek seems to go boldly where it's probably gone before.

Overall, I'd probably recommend waiting for it to hit DVD. I'd give it 2.5 out of 5

Watching Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, there will be times that you find yourself thinking that you are watching a documentary rather than a fictional film. The guy looks like he's lived through a thousand hells, so when he's playing a down and out wrestler, you believe it.

In The Wrestler, Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson. The Ram's star may have shone bright in the 80's, but it has long since faded. Randy now earns a living working at a local supermarket during the week and doing small scale wrestling shows on the weekends. To be blunt, Randy doesn't seem to have a whole lot to look forward to, his future is bleak. He has a daughter that hates him, struggles to earn enough to pay his rent and therefore spends a lot of time basically living out of his van. When a promoter offers him a 20th anniversary rematch to celebrate the most famous match of career, it seems like he finally has something to work toward.
In a homage to Rocky, The Ram goes about preparing himself for his next big match, with a view to the anniversary rematch. He takes pain medication, sleeps in his van, works out, goes to a tanning salon, buys up on steroids and visits his favorite local strip club, where he's clearly taken a liking to Cassidy (aka. Pam when she's not performing) played by Marissa Tomei.

Following his brutal hardcore match, Randy has a heart attack and undergoes a triple bypass. He's warned not to overly exert himself. That means no more steroids, and no more Wrestling. Randy is forced into retirement. So what is a buffed up and broken former wrestler to do with his life? Well, he can try and crack onto his favorite stripper, he can work longer hours at his local supermarket, and he can try and reconcile with his daughter. For a while, things seem to be going along fine for the Ram. All it takes though, is for one piece of the puzzle to combust, and the whole house of cards bursts into flames, or something to that effect. Cue the scene where Randy drowns his sorrows, snorts cocaine and shags a blonde chick with a firefighter fetish.

With his life once again on the skids, and against the best advice from the medical profession, Randy decides that the ring is the only place that he'll ever be happy. His big rematch is back on...

What happens next? I can't say without spoiling the ending.

The Wrestler is an interesting film. On the one hand it churns out some of the same sort of cliches you expect from a sporting based film, but on the other hand it also choke slams some of them as well. For example, throughout the entire film I sat there thinking to myself, "I know how this is going to end", yet, as it turns out, I didn't. The Wrestler is a performance driven character piece, and not something you should watch for intricate plotting. It's bleak, dark, and you can't help but feel that Randy's path is one that Mickey Rourke may have tread, at least partly, himself. The film has a very candid, documentary style, feel about it.

It's not all bleak though. You do get to see Marissa Tomei's boobs, and let's face it, that's probably going to be enough to get a few punters through the door alone.

If you've seen the documentary "Beyond the Mat" then some of what you'll see in The Wrestler may seem family, and I believe that "Beyond the Mat" may have served as more than a little inspiration for the script.

Overall, The Wrestler is a good film. Mickey Rourke's performance is worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon it so far, and it's hard to see anyone else in the role. You don't have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate this film. I'd give it 4 out of 5.

The Animal Wrestlers ELT Edition Cambridge Storybooks

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56m

THE UNDERTAKER MAGNETIC BRACELET6 WWE WRESTLER

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THE WRESTLER movie poster 11x17 NEW mickey rourke

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Smashing Pumpkins - If All Goes Wrong is a double disc dvd set focusing on the return of the Smashing Pumpkins circa 2006. Disc one features the Jack Gulick documentary, If All Goes Wrong, which received a limited theatrical release. Disc two features a live set taken from the residency tour that the documentary follows.

For me, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the biggest and best bands of the 90's. Siamese Dream rates as one of my favorite albums of all time. When the band split in 2000 I was sad, and since then I've been waiting for their epic four hour finale show to make a DVD appearance.

When they reformed in 2006, I was a little nervous, an unsure as to whether they could pump out material of the quality I associate with the Smashing Pumpkins. The release of Zeitgeist then was a welcome relief.

The documentary, If All Goes Wrong picks up in 2006, with Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain getting together again with new faces Ginger Reyes on bass (replacing D'arcy) and Jeff Shroeder on guitar (replacing James Iha), and Lisa Harrington joining the group on keyboards. The new lineup made its debut playing residencies at small clubs, The Orange Peel in Asheville, and Fillmore in San Fransisco.

Corgan is quick to point out that this is not the 'old' Smashing Pumpkins. It's a new band, moving forward in a new direction. He doesn't want people coming to his shows expecting to hear any of the previous Smashing Pumpkins material. Now at this point, you may find yourself asking, as I did myself, why the heck would he choose to retain the Smashing Pumpkins name if he didn't want people to expect to hear some of the Smashing Pumpkins of old? In my opinion it seems a little like a tomato soup company deciding they don't want to produce tomato soup anymore and starts making vanilla custard instead. The company but still packages and promotes it's vanilla custard as tomato soup, and then wonders why customers complain when they buy what they think is tomato soup but get vanilla custard instead. Don't get me wrong, a band has a right to grow and evolve, but don't complain when fans still like to hear some of what attracted them in the first place. Rant over.

The residency shows clearly demonstrate this as the band go about finding their feet. Toward the middle of the film someone comments that the experience the band is going through is kind of like boot camp. Billy Corgan then is definitely the Commander and Chief.

Early in the residencies, Corgan is obviously inspired, pumping out a number of new songs. He's clearly a prolific song writer. Much of the new material is acoustic based, and at times he straps on a harmonica to bust out some Bob Dylan style material.

While watching the film, I found myself wondering what level of access the director had with the band and Corgan. Compared to the Metallica film 'Some Kind Of Monster', it felt like Gulick was somewhat limited in the material he had to work with. A lot of the interview material appeared to have been shot over a couple of days, and candid moments were few and far between.

For me, the most interesting scene was when Corgan discusses why he won't be dipping into the bands back catalogue to play two of the classic tracks from the Siamese Dream album, 'Soma' and 'Mayonnaise'. The reason being that former guitarist James Iha contributed some music to the two tunes, and Corgan's relationship with Iha is clearly a sensitive topic. He hurls his acoustic guitar at his hotel bed, and that is the end of that.

At times, the shows seemed to be as much about alienating those fans seeking a sharp dose of nostalgia as it is about anything else. From what is shown on the DVD, very few 'crowd pleasers' received an airing, with most of the shows devoted to more obscure choices, and songs that were still clearly works in progress. With the bands focus on the new material Gulick focuses on the reaction of the fans. There's vox pops with fanatics remaining positive, waxing lyrical about the beauty of watching Corgan and friends fleshing out new stuff. There's also shots of the crowd as the new stuff gets aired. These shots don't lie. To say that some in the audience seem disinterested in some of the new material is an understatement. When fans are yawning there way through the gig, this can not be a good sign.

The extended jam track Gossamer is a good example of when, not if, 'It All Goes Wrong". Any track that runs in excess of 30 minutes is going to test the patience of all but the most devoted, or psychologically dependent, fan. Featured in the documentary, it is interspersed with shots of people yawning and even leaving the show mid song. It's the sort of jam that is best kept for rehearsals in the hope that it'll one day yield something solid. It's not the sort of thing that should be cranked out night after night to close a show. While Gossamer may have taken up too much of the live show, it also receives far too much attention in the documentary.

For me, one of the most disappointing aspects of the documentary is that it glosses over the re-formation of the band almost entirely. I would have liked to have seen more of went on behind the scenes, and how the gap between 2000 and 2006 impacted upon the band as they began to get things back together.

Pete Townshend pops up a couple of times throughout the documentary to offer his insights into what it's like to be control driven band leader.

I finished the documentary wondering why Corgan seems so intent on deliberately antagonising his audience? Does he want to weed out the fans so he's only left with the fanatics, of which there are plenty in evidence throughout the film? Don't question his artistic choices, accept what you are given, or walk away. That's the vibe I got anyway.

So, is it a good film? It's ok. Perhaps I would rate it higher had I not recently re-watched the awesome Metallica doco Some Kind Of Monster. Whereas that film had a degree of 'warts and all', If All Goes Wrong has the feel of a documentary that has been carefully managed. I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Smashing Pumpkins Chicago Tapes and Unreleased Demos

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THE SMASHING PUMPKINS MACHINA T SHIRT BILLY CORGAN

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BILLY CORGAN Future Embrace CD w OBI SMASHING PUMPKINS

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Quantum of Solace is a film that has garnered mixed reviews, and having seen it on the weekend, I can now understand why. In my opinion, Casino Royale, the 2006 James Bond outing, is one of the standout Bond films. It did for Bond films, what Batman Begins did for the Batman franchise. It's for this reason that my expectations for its direct sequel, Quantum of Solace were quite high.

The film opens with Bond at the wheel of the iconic Aston Martin, speeding through Italy with bad guys in pursuit. While it's not made explicitly clear, we apparently pick up the story a short time after where Casino Royale left off. After evading his pursuers in style, it's revealed that Bond has kidnapped Mr White, from the previous film, and is delivering him to M for interrogation. Mr White hints that he's a member of an all powerful top secret organisation, that has people everywhere, at which point M's body guard goes loco and tries to pop a cap in M's ass. Hectic action follows, Mr White escapes, but Bond has just enough information to begin his investigation.

When the action shifts to Haiti, we are introduced to Camille, played by a stunning looking Olga Kurylenko. Like Bond, she to is out for revenge. In order to achieve their goals, both Bond and Camille need to go through dirty dog industrialist, Dominic Greene. He's the bad guy. Greene is acquiring land from war ravaged nations in return for effecting 'regime' changes. All very political, and all very complex.

The films climax takes place in the Bolivian desert, at a hydrogen powered 'eco hotel'. After much action, many explosions, and lots of gun fire, Bond gets what he's after... well sort of... and the good guys win.

I'm still a little unsure how I feel about Quantum of Solace. On the one hand it was enjoyable action film, fast paced (running time of around 90 mins) and did enough to maintain my interest. On the other hand, as a direct sequel to Casino Royale, I don't think that it quite made it up to scratch. While the basic premise behind the film was quite simple, at times the plot became so convoluted that I struggled to keep up with who was doing what to whom. The quick edits in some of the action scenes also made it hard to keep up with what was happening on screen. It's also not a film that really stands up on its own, watched in isolation of Casino Royale, it would no doubt lose a lot in terms of the viewers understanding of what is driving Bond.

Quantum of Solace is an enjoyable enough film, go along with low expectations and you'll no doubt enjoy it. If you go along expecting it to live up to the hype, and the standard set by Casino Royale, you're bound to be disappointing. I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 pickles.

James Bond 007 NightFire PlayStation 2 2002

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Danbury Mint James Bond 007 Aston Martin Sales Brochure

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Gamecube PS2 XBOX PC James Bond 007 Night Fire Guide

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After seeing the new Incredible Hulk movie I'm glad to report that it went a long way toward righting the wrongs committed by the 2003 Ang Lee atrocity. Edward Norton was excellent as Bruce Banner, and a much better fit for the character than Eric Bana was. Banner is weedy, vulnerable, but underneath it all, you can tell he's got some hardcore repressed anger issues.

The story starts with Banner on the run, and hiding from the US military, and trying to find a cure for his little problem. It's not long before he's tracked down, and following a tussle with some crack special forces, including ring in Tim Roth, Banner Hulk's up, busts loose and head for home. (more...)