I distinctly remember seeing Star Trek: Nemesis during its opening weekend in a mostly empty theater auditorium. That experience was all too common for those few other fans who likewise made the effort. The film remains, to date, the lowest grossing Star Trek movie and the only one to lose money at the box office.… Read More This Doesn’t Feel Right | Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) 4K Ultra HD
You’d think that by its ninth feature film, the Star Trek franchise might have found some sense of consistency or had a clue how to build off the success of its biggest box office hit at the time (1996’s quite good Star Trek: First Contact). Sadly, that wasn’t at all the case. The next big-screen… Read More Androids Do Not Have Fun | Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) 4K Ultra HD
Star Wars: Visions is a really great idea that, unfortunately, didn’t quite come together during its first season in 2021. Honestly, the first batch of episodes were mostly duds. Two years later, the series returns with an expanded focus that thankfully yields some improvement. The second season has a higher ratio of good, or at… Read More Follow the Light | Star Wars: Visions Season 2 (2023) on Disney+
The Netflix binge model, while obviously very appealing to viewers frustrated with the traditional weekly TV schedule, can sometimes do a disservice to shows that need time to build buzz and public awareness. The streamer’s terrific new political drama The Diplomat, for example, barely premiered two weeks ago yet already seems to have fallen out… Read More One Ambassador’s Plenty | The Diplomat Season 1 (2023) on Netflix
That Star Trek: First Contact is, without question, the best of the Next Generation crew’s feature films may lead to it being a bit overrated. This cast is so beloved from their years on television that fans desperately wanted (and still want) them to have at least one great movie as well. Personally, I’ve always… Read More This Is No Time to Argue About Time | Star Trek: First Contact (1996) 4K Ultra HD
Star Trek: Generations is neither the best nor the worst of the franchise’s many feature films. Looking across the entire range of them, it falls somewhere near the lower middle of the pack. Narrowed down specifically to the four Next Generation cast movies, it would have to land in second place – but to be… Read More It Was… Fun | Star Trek: Generations (1994) 4K Ultra HD
Endings can be a very tricky thing to get right, especially the third time around. After seven seasons on the air, Star Trek: The Next Generation bid a satisfying farewell to television in the 1994 series finale episode, All Good Things. Unfortunately, the crew’s subsequent feature film career mostly underwhelmed. In fact, their last outing… Read More Hope Is Never Lost | Star Trek: Picard Series Finale (2023) on Paramount+
When trying to imagine a visual metaphor that defines the essence of the state of Florida, the image of an alligator rising to the surface of a lake carrying a gun on its back just about nails it. I wish I had thought of it. That scene actually happens in an early episode of Netflix’s… Read More The Goddamn State Is Shaped Like a Gun! | Florida Man (2023) Netflix Limited Series
Revisited a much-loved pop landmark from the heart of the Baby Boomer era with a pointedly more diverse cast and a stronger focus on the female point-of-view, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies feels like it was explicitly (if not expressly) designed to inflame our current culture wars and drive the anti-“woke” crowd absolutely insane… Read More It’s Gonna Be Different This Year | Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023) Paramount+ Series Premiere
The qualities that caused Dragonslayer to fail at the box office in 1981 are very likely the same reasons the film has endured for so long as a cult item with many passionate fans. Released at a time when what passed for movies in the fantasy-adventure genre were typically jokey and juvenile in nature (see… Read More We Shall Live and the Beast Shall Die | Dragonslayer (1981) 4K Ultra HD
