Last year I was of the same mind as Sequart's Julian Darius on The Dark Knight Rises (which I re-watched last night, and I'd say has actually diminished from my initial "meh" review), and we're also of a piece on Man of Steel, which both he and I enjoyed greatly. I recommend checking out his entire piece looking at the film, but one part in particular that jumped out at me was his take on the film's controversial climax (a climax that even exec producer Christopher Nolan had to be convinced on, by the way). I alluded to potential controversy about this development in my review, and indeed it's been a central talking point in the "anti" column. Nonetheless, I was okay with it, and what follows is why. Since this is still spoiler material, I'll put the relevant bit after the jump:

Robert Reich says the GOP has learned no lessons from its drubbing at the polls in 2012.

The Man of Steel episode! The MovieFilm gang reunites to discuss the latest (greatest?) cinematic exploit of Superman, with all three of us offering a rapturous reaction. But that's not all! Speaking of rapturous, there's also my in-depth interview with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Craig Robinson of the hilarious end-of-the-world comedy This Is The End (check out the full transcript here). In addition, we talk up the latest news on the latest Terminator movie (including word that sixty-something Ah-Nold might be cyborging up again), dissect the doomsaying predictions from Steven Spielberg & George Lucas that the end of cinema is nigh, and offer our takes on the new trailers for 300: Rise of An Empire, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and we top things off with a MovieFilm quiz where Sean and I test our Superman trivia thresholds. You can stream below, or listen/download to the show through iTunes or via Stitcher Radio. Remember to write a review or rank us on iTunes and Stitcher, and be sure to hit "like" on our official Facebook page!

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With Man of Steel burning up the box office this weekend (check out my review if you haven't already!), let's stay on topic for a little while longer with this vintage spot for Superman Peanut Butter. Believe it or not, that was a real thing, lasting for a few years from the late '70s into the early '80s. I don't have a lot of memories of what it tasted like, but one presumes it tasted just like regular, run-of-the-mill peanut butter. Nonetheless, countless kids probably forced their parents to buy Superman PB, as opposed to whatever generic store-brand stuff they usually picked up, simply because of that stylized "S" beckoning to them from the condiments aisle. At least, that's what happened in my house! Catch the vid below:

Director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel is an ambitious attempt by home studio Warner Bros. to imbue their Superman property with the same sense of primacy with audiences that seems to come so easily to DC Comics stablemate Batman (who's taking a breather between film series right now). And while it doesn't quite remove the Richard Donner-directed, Christopher Reeve-starring Superman: The Movie -- the granddaddy of the wave of comic book pics we're currently in the midst of -- from its place of preeminence in my heart, it does sit quite comfortably alongside it as a worthy retelling of this most indelible piece of Americana.

I've often said that one of the keys to the evergreen appeal of the Superman myth is in its elasticity. The timeless tale of an infant rocketed from a dying planet to assume a mantle of heroism on Earth has a resiliency that transcends its Depression-era origins, allowing it to find new expression for every generation since. In that sense, Man of Steel (upon which Warners is hanging all its be-Leaguered hopes for a Marvel-style movie universe) isn't so much a reinvention as it is a reclamation. The Watchmen director's franchise restart accords the saga the same degree of respect and seriousness it was given in Donner's beloved film, but also grounds the proceedings with relevance and immediacy for 2013 auds.

L-R: Craig Robinson, Seth Rogen, some guy, and Evan Goldberg

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have been creative partners for almost a decade now, with their history of uproarious collaborations including such recent comedic benchmarks as Superbad and Pineapple Express, as well as one of their earliest projects, the self-referential short film Jay & Seth Versus the Apocalypse. It was this latter project that formed the basis of the pair's most recent endeavor, This is the End (now in theaters), which also marks their directorial debut.

The film, starring Rogen, Craig Robinson, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride as themselves in the aftermath of the Rapture, is one of most original comedies I've seen in awhile, serving as a perfect showcase for the style of humor they've turned into their trademark. I had the chance to chat with Rogen, Goldberg, and Robinson recently, and they made my job extremely easy, as all I had to do was set them up and watch the magic as they played off one another. Check out the transcript of our conversation below:

Jon Stewart took a twelve-week sabbatical from Daily Show hosting duties last week to direct a feature film that he co-wrote, but if there were any doubts that erstwhile fill-in John Oliver would miss a step during his tenure in the big chair, they were dashed immediately with last night's barn-burner of an episode. Check out Oliver's blistering take on the recent revelations about the NSA's domestic surveillance. Part one is below, and parts two and three are after the jump:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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My Man of Steel review should be up tomorrow, but in the meantime check out this vid compiled by the folks at Cinema Sins as they pick apart many of the things that went wrong with Superman's last cinematic escapade. I would say that, in hindsight, I was more generous than I needed to be with Superman Returns, and while I haven't revisited the movie the whole way through since the one time I saw it in the theater in '06, I think this summarizes many of the things that bothered me about it:

Robert Reich discusses how the static equilibrium in Washington, with nothing of substance breaching the congressional logjam, has precipitated the polarization all across the country, as reflected by the legislation that is making it through the statehouses.

Man of Steel finally arrives this week, and having seen it last week I've got lots to say, but that'll have to wait for my review. In the meantime, let's take a look back at another artifact from Superman's long multimedia history -- one that came and went so quickly that it's largely been left by the wayside. In 1988, two years after Hanna-Barbera's long-lived Super Friends franchise aired its last episode on ABC, and one year after the last Christopher Reeve Superman flick (nuclear) bombed, DC Comics made another play at crossover glory for their biggest icon on the occasion of his 50th anniversary.

The Washington Post's Timothy B. Lee lays out in precise detail why exactly this week's revelations of the NSA's unprecedented snooping into phone records are such a big freakin' deal.

Alexis Denisof (L) and Amy Acker (R) as erstwhile love interests Benedick and Beatrice

I've been a fan of actors Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker since their time together playing doomed lovers Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Winifred Burkle on creator Joss Whedon's late, lamented series Angel. While the two have kept busy with a variety of different projects since the show ended its run nearly a decade ago, they've reunited this week as Benedick and Beatrice, the will-they/won't-they couple at the center of Whedon's adaptation of William Shakespeare's immortal comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

The film, which Whedon shot over the course of twelve days last year as a way of unwinding from the stress of making a certain mega-budgeted blockbuster, is a virtual cornucopia of longtime and frequent Whedon collaborators, with Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, and many others on hand to give voice to the Bard's words. I had a chance to chat with Denisof and Acker a few weeks ago about Angel, Much Ado, and what it's like when you're filming a movie at Joss Whedon's house. Check out the transcript of our conversation after the jump:

Sean rejoins the MovieFilm troika for this week's episode, and starts things out with a belated review of Star Trek Into Darkness. From there, we launch into in-depth conversations on how the The Hangover Part III is one of the unfunniest comedies ever made, how Fast & Furious 6 made Zaki shut up and love Vin Diesel, and how After Earth may well be the death knell for M. Night Shyamalan's once-promising career. In addition, we also take in the all-new trailers for Ender's Game and The World's End, plus commentary on Henry Cavill joining the long-development feature adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Whoopi Goldberg joining the cast of the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, the possibility that Skyfall director Sam Mendes might return for back-to-back Bond adventures, and more. All that, and the usual listener letters to start things off and a movie quiz to wrap things up. Stream below, or listen/download through iTunes or via Stitcher Radio. Remember to write a review or rank us on iTunes and Stitcher, and be sure to hit "like" on our official Facebook page!

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A conversation I frequently have, both with my MovieFilm colleagues and my students, is about the way Hollywood churns up and spits out promising young stars. Those young actors who actually manage a successful transition from precocious youngling to Tiger Beat cover star to regular working actor are few and far between, and are far outnumbered by the tragic, comical, or tragicomic cases such as Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, the entire cast of Diff'rent Strokes, etc.

Children are used by the machine as long as they're deemed valuable to the corporate bottom line, after which they're kicked to the curb with no few life or social skills to speak of after being trained to view themselves and others as a commodity all their lives. This isn't just an isolated phenomenon, as Hollywood history is littered with similar such cases. For some insider perspective on the troubling travails of child stars, here's Mara Wilson (remember her from Matilda?), who lists seven possibilities for why the frequency of child star meltdowns is so high.

Oh, so true.

Man On Cusp Of Having Fun Suddenly Remembers Every Single One Of His Responsibilities

From the piece:

While cracking open his second beer as he chatted with friends over a relaxed outdoor meal, Platt was reportedly seconds away from letting go and enjoying himself when he was suddenly crushed by the full weight of work emails that still needed to be dealt with, looming deadlines for projects that would take a great deal of time and energy to complete, an upcoming wedding he had yet to buy airfare for because of an unresolved issue with his Southwest Rapid Rewards account, and phone calls that needed to be returned.

Read the rest here.

Welcome to the big 100th installment of Nostalgia Theater! I'm as shocked as you that we've made it this far, but here's to the next 100! You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Last July I had a post looking back at the animated Star Wars spin-off Droids, with the promise of a follow-up the next week examining its sister series Ewoks. Well, when I said "next week," I actually meant, "whenever I get around to it." And with last week marking thirty years to the day that Return of the Jedi, the movie that first launched the furry little runts into our collective mindspace, was released, I figured the moment had finally arrived to look back at the franchising of Ewoks.

In what can only be considered a major blow to late night comedians and comedy writers from sea to shining sea, Tea Party favorite Michele Bachman has this morning announced her resignation from congress following this term. The Minnesota congresswoman first rose to national prominence during the '08 campaign, just five short years ago, thanks to an ill-timed (or perfectly-timed, depending on your vantage point) appearance on MSNBC's Hardball wherein she loosed a hilarious, McCarthy-esque tirade against then-Senator Obama as well as other congressional Dems. That appearance, coming at the tail end of her first congressional term, instantly marked Bachmann as a piñata for the left, and a cause célèbre on the far right. Certainly, her unhinged Islamophobia made her a regular fixture hereabouts.

The hits kept coming from there, of course, with Bachmann (she of Newsweek's infamous "crazy eyes" cover, to the right) reliably bringing the nutty whenever there was a camera nearby. It tells you something about the state of the party around her that she was (for a brief instant, anyway) the frontrunner for the Republican nod during the last election cycle. I'd love to say that her vacating the seat signals an end to the blindly ideological, nonstop partisanship that was her forte, but let's be real here. The House's entire Republican caucus has long since been subsumed by Bachmann-esque rhetoric, to the point that her absence will barely be felt. Still, as she begins that long walk into obscurity (or, more likely, a "talking head" job at Fox News), let us look back at some of Congresswoman Bachmann's dizziest dictums, as compiled by Sahil Kapur over at TPM.

When I graduated from Columbia College in Chicago eleven years ago, actor Alan Arkin delivered the commencement address. That, in and of itself, is exciting and pretty cool, but unfortunately I have no recollection of anything he said. None. Zero. I'd like to think that's less a reflection on Mr. Arkin's ability to turn a phrase, and more an indicator of my in-the-moment spaciness as I sat on the cusp of clutching my diploma (which I didn't actually end up getting for another eight months. Long story).

Anyway, my point is that ever since then, while I've forgotten the words of wisdom from my own commencement, I try to take what I can from others, living vicariously through the grads who get to hear various luminaries I admire exhort them to greatness. Last year I posted speeches from Aaron Sorkin and Neil Gaiman, and now I present this address by Avengers helmer Joss Whedon, who spoke last weekend at Connecticut's Wesleyan University. In addition to the usual Whedon-esque wordsmithery we've come to expect, there are some profound points to be had. Check out the vid below, and read the transcript here.


(Source: Wesleyan Connection)

Report: Texting While Driving Okay If You Look Up Every Couple Seconds

WASHINGTON—A new report published Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board advises motorists that sending text messages while driving “is totally fine” and “not that big a deal” as long as you make sure to glance up from your phone every now and then. “If you’re driving and have a really important text to send, that’s okay; just try to keep one eye on the road as best you can,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said of the report, which advocates a new “50-50 rule” for texting drivers, suggesting they keep half their attention on the road and half on their handheld device. “After all, you can always steer with your knees or—if you really want to be extra careful—text with one hand and hold the wheel with the other. Better yet, just ask a passenger to give you a heads-up whenever there’s a red light or another car up ahead.” Hersman added that the report’s findings apply not only to texting, but also to checking email, playing games, or watching movies while driving.

It's an off-week for MovieFilm, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other ways to get your necessary fix of my dulcet tones as I wax on about various worthless things. First up, after a great time last fall, I made a double-header return visit to my friend J. David Weter's fun PADSmash: An Incredible Hulk podcast, spending two episodes discussing two key issues that had a great deal of importance in the life of this young Hulkophile many moons ago. Catch the first one here, and the second one here.

Also on tap, my buddies at the new Real Fans 4 Real Movies podcast, which overlaps with MovieFilm in terms of content, asked me to drop by and discuss the latest releases, including The Hangover Part III and Fast & Furious 6. Catch that via iTunes or at Stitcher radio. Of course, these are just extracurricular activities for me, and the boys and I will be back Monday with ep. 23 of the MovieFilm Podcast, with Hangover, Fast 6, After Earth talk, plus my exclusive interview with Much Ado About Nothing stars Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, and more.

As longtime readers know, while I'm not opposed to gun ownership as a general principle, I do believe that right isn't a blank check. Based on polling, this seems to be a mainstream point-of-view, which makes it even more of a shame that the NRA has such outsized influence over our politicos. Year after year, their particular brand of gun nuttery has twisted and contorted this very real, very important debate, and deposited far, far away from where it needs to be. But the tides of policy and politics may be changing, if this lengthy piece by Alec MacGillis for The New Republic is to be believed. Read it, and you tell me.

A few months ago I discussed the forgotten '80s animated series Defenders of the Earth, which teamed-up newspaper heroes Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and the Phantom into a jury rigged, pseudo-Justice League of sorts. While the show still has its fans, it pretty much came and went after a season. Still, that was hardly the end of the multitudinous attempts by King Features Syndicate to branch its coterie of classic heroes beyond their newsprint purviews. Another such try arrived on our collective TV screens in fall of '94, with the launch of Phantom 2040, which took Lee Falk's legendary jungle hero and transposed him into the futuristic cityscapes of the year 2040. Here's the intro:

Rick Ungar at Forbes discusses the big surprise that greeted critics when California announced the prices of its statewide insurance exchange as part of the Affordable Care Act. It wasn't what they were thinking.

Paul Walker (L) and Vin Diesel (R) get ready for more car-nage

Amazingly enough, before this week I hadn't seen a single entry in Universal's now-voluminous catalogue of Fast & Furious movies. That didn't necessarily signal a lack of interest on my part, but simply a lack of energy. My fuzzy recollections of the first one, 2001's The Fast & The Furious (back before they dispensed with the need for pesky things like definitive articles) were of a "hip & cool" street-racing flick that cribbed liberally from 1991's Kathryn Bigelow-helmed Point Break while swapping Paul Walker for Keanu Reeves. I dunno, seemed like kind of a lateral move. And so, I scootched over to the slow lane and let it pass me by.

But then a funny thing happened. The Fast & The Furious didn't just spawn a sequel. Or even a franchise. It spawned a saga. And a passionate fan base right along with it that eagerly awaited each installment. That passion is something I didn't become fully aware of until I talked to my students, who greeted the arrival of 2009's movie four, Fast & Furious, reuniting Diesel & Walker after they sat out the second and third installments respectively, with all the pomp one would expect for a Beatles reunion. And then, with 2011's Fast Five, I saw the kind of anticipatory ardor I'd previously assumed was reserved for Star Wars and Twilight. Something was definitely happening here. But even then I didn't dive in.

It's just Brian and Zaki for this week's installment of the MovieFilm Podcast, but they have plenty to discuss. First up, Zaki offers his thoughts on The Great Gatsby and the all-new animated feature Superman Unbound. After that, a discussion on the latest Hollywood Headlines, including the delay of the much-anticipated (by us) Jurassic Park 4, and what it means for the future of the hallowed dino-franchise. Also, they take a look at the new trailers for Anchorman 2, Riddick and the upcoming TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In addition, Zaki interviews with director Sarah Polley about her fascinating new documentary Stories We Tell, and he and Brian go in-depth and all-in on spoilers for a lengthy chat about Star Trek Into Darkness, discussing the plot, what works, what doesn't, and why it failed to take off at the box office as expected. Lots to listen for in this latest episode, so make it so! You can stream below, listen through iTunes, or via the Stitcher network. As always, remember to write a review or rank us on iTunes (as well as on Stitcher!), and hit "like" on our official Facebook page!

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This past weekend, Star Trek Into Darkness should have warped off to a $100 million-plus at the box office, at least if pre-release hype from Paramount was to be believed, but instead it netted a less impressive (though hardly insubstantial) $85 million over its opening four days, with its three day total coming in slightly under the much-ballyhooed reboot from '09. A worrisome sign if the flick has any hopes of recouping its $190 mil budget domestically.

Now, my Grumpy Old Fan review notwithstanding, this really should have opened higher, especially when you factor in the box office behavior of most recent franchise films. So, what happened, exactly? Here's an analysis by Christopher Rosen at HuffPo on some of the factors that may have led to the drop -- and why there might be trouble ahead at the till, especially with the duel onslaught of Hangover 3 and Fast 6 arriving this week. Brian Hall and I also discussed this at some length in the latest MovieFilm show, including echoing some of Rosen's points. You can listen for that when the show drops tomorrow morning (apologies for the delay...it was unavoidable with this one).

With Star Trek Into Darkness sitting atop the box office this weekend, cementing this latest iteration of the sci-fi evergreen in the minds of the public, I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at when Star Trek's originals took their final bow. After the box office disappointment of 1989's William Shatner-helmed The Final Frontier (my first theatrical Star Trek experience, which I dissected here), the assumption by many was that the bell had tolled for the cast of the 1960s TV series. Certainly that was my assumption.

And in that pre-Internet wilderness of the late-'80s and early-'90s, I had no window into the behind-the-scenes wheeling-and-dealing by Paramount to ensure that they had some kind of Star Trek product in theaters for the franchise's silver anniversary in 1991 (to put this in perspective, we're now just years away from the fiftieth). Thus, the very first indication I had of another movie Trek in the offing was this wonderful teaser trailer, which I saw in summer of 1991 on the now-defunct Coming Attractions show on the E! channel:

Sarah Polley has been working consistently in film and television since she was a child, and what's most astounding about the multi-hyphenate filmmaker, who spends her days smoothly segueing back-and-forth between actor, writer, and director, is how much enthusiasm she continues to have for the industry as she seeks out new, innovative ways of telling stories.

That enthusiasm is ably reflected in her latest directorial endeavor, the appropriately-titled documentary Stories We Tell, in which she offers a peek into revelations from her own life, using those revelations to make some very piquant observations about human nature. The doc is built on a series of surprises that I won't dare to spoil here, but I will say you owe it to yourself to see it knowing as little ahead of time as possible.

I had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Polley recently, and we discussed the story behind Stories, what moves her to choose the projects she does, and more. Check out the full text of our chat below:

Read my review of 2009's Star Trek here

2009's hugely successful sequel/prequel/reboot Star Trek did a lot more than apply the paddles to the moribund Trek brand after a brief, apathy-induced interregnum. It also opened the franchise up to a wider, more diverse audience than it ever enjoyed in the previous four decades, through ten feature films, six TV series, and mountains of licensed memorabilia. Given that Star Trek practically invented the pejorative perception of geekdom, that's quite the feat, and given that considerable feather in his cap, it's understandable that director J.J. Abrams would leverage that success to go bigger and wider with his follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness.

What's less understandable is why, given the sky's-the-limit free rein offered by the time-twisting, alternate reality shenanigans of the previous film, which effectively took a phaser-beam to the Gordian Knot of accumulated Star Trek continuity and "canon," Team Abrams instead assembled a patchwork pastiche for their curtain call, one that gleefully scavenges familiar moments from prior iterations of the brand, but with none of the accrued emotional heft. If the previous film was your entrée into the franchise, then you'll likely find this the perfect sequel. But for anyone with any knowledge of or fondness for Trek pre-Abrams, Into Darkness is a decidedly mixed bag that strives mightily to achieve a resonance it hasn't earned.

I saw Star Trek Into Darkness last night and have lots to say, so look for my review of that flick shortly. In the meantime, check out this piece by Matt Yglesias wherein he takes an in-depth look at the various iterations of televised Trek over the years, and makes a pretty compelling argument that it's on the small screen where the venerable sci-fi franchise's goings have been most bold. After seeing the new flick, I can't say I necessarily disagree.

Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg, center) is back from beyond to head the cast of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

This week's upfronts announcing the fall lineups for the various nets have been singularly unimpressive in my view (with last place NBC's desperation particularly apparent), but the one prog that has my antennas up is Agents of SHIELD, the first expression of synchronicity by Disney between its ABC and Marvel appendages. I've been tracking the development of the Joss Whedon-produced show, which brings Marvel's expanded movie-verse to the small screen, for awhile now, but I figured I'd wait until it was a go for a series before I brought it up here, lest it get kiboshed at the pilot stage and we get all excited for nothing.

The word that SHIELD is a go for series came down this week, and with it we got the above still, plus the extended teaser below. Heading up the show is Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) the fan-fave character who heroically met his end in last summer's Avengers (apparently the concept of death is just as elastic in the movie-verse as it is in the comics). This teaser gives us a good sense of what the show is going for, plus we also see another Whedon regular, J. August Richards, apparently playing Marvel hero Rage. Hopefully he's not the last secondary hero we'll see turning up in the skein, due to debut this fall. Check out the vid after the jump.

Heh.

Arab-American Actually Kind Of Enjoys Always Having 2 Bus Seats To Self

CHICAGO—While stressing that racial profiling is degrading and has made his life more difficult in a great many ways, 29-year-old Egyptian-American Tarek Yasin admitted to reporters Monday that he does sort of enjoy always having two seats to himself when he rides the bus. “Sure, it’s insulting when people take one look at me and then walk to the other end of the bus, but after a long day of work, it is kind of nice to be able to stretch out a little bit,” said Yasin, adding that since the Boston Marathon bombings on Apr. 15, he hasn’t once had to sit next to someone else during his daily commute. “Even when the bus is full, just the sight of me standing in the aisle is enough to make people get up and move, so I always wind up with a seat. Ignorance, fear, racism—these are horrible things, but at least I get to sit down and take a load off.” Yasin, who has been an American citizen for over a decade, added that he also gets the locker room at his health club to himself “just by showing up and setting down [his] gym bag.”

Marking another meaningless milestone here at Zaki's Corner this morning, as I hit 500 followers via the official Facebook page. Just so it's preserved for posterity...


If you haven't already, make sure to click over to FB and hit "like." 1000, here we come!

After last week's piece on Knight Rider, I thought I'd celebrate Mother's Day by looking back at another show about a talking car -- one with a premise so perplexing and nonsensical that you start wondering what strain of what controlled substance was being partaken of when it was conceived (and where you might find some). My Mother the Car is a short-lived sitcom that aired on NBC from 1965 to 1966. In case you're wondering what it's about (if the title doesn't give it away, that is), watch the opening credits below and see if they don't fill in the blanks:

Filming commenced a few weeks ago on Fox's sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which picks up a decade after the viral conclusion of 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and finds ape leader Caesar leading his colony of intelligent apes while the remnants of humanity struggle to hang on. As you can imagine, I'm suitably stoked for this one, especially when you consider this'll be the first actual, honest-to-goodness Apes sequel in more than forty (!!) years, remakes and reboots notwithstanding.

With a cast that includes Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell as the humans, and Andy Serkis and Judy Greer doing mo-cap duty as the the apes, this one looks promising, though it remains an open question whether new helmer Matt Reeves will lead us to the nuclear apocalypse promised by the 1968 original. You can see Fox's logo for the new flick above, which cements its place as a the Memorial Day heavy hitter for next summer, which in turn cements the renewed franchise's significance (something I take an inordinate amount of pride in, as if I had anything remotely to do with it).

I'd been half-mocking the title on the MovieFilm show for the way "dawn" only incrementally advances the bar from "rise", but upon reflection I like the (unintentional?) comparison with Dawn of the Dead, and how that took the opening chords of the zombie apocalypse begun in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and turned it into a full-blown sonata. As always with these things, especially a big franchise flick (and a Fox franchise flick at that), things could take a wrong turn very quickly, but one of the first set pics we've gotten sure fills me with confidence. It's spoilery as all heck, so I've placed it after the jump:

After four wildly different tries at bringing F. Scott Fitzgerald's much-admired tome The Great Gatsby to the silver screen, I'm starting to think it may simply be unadaptable. Maybe the acknowledgement of such will keep hubristic filmmakers like Baz Luhrmann from dusting off the text every few decades to try, try again. The book, a mainstay of Honors English classes across the country, retains much of its appeal thanks to its vivid depiction of the roaring '20s and the simple poetry of its central arc, and the inability of Hollywood hands to properly crack it remains something of a head-scratcher to me.

The most "recent" celluloid adaptation of Gatsby, 1974's Jack Clayton-directed Robert Redford starrer, is almost forty years old, and while it was beautiful to look at it was absolutely stultifying to sit through, with Redford and Mia Farrow making for an ill-fitting romantic coupling, and a severe lack of dramatic urgency hobbling the proceedings as the plot sauntered through its paces. In crafting his re-adaptation (co-scripted with Craig Pearce), it's as if Luhrmann looked at the dull Clayton version, noted the lack of energy, and made a concerted effort to err in the exact opposite direction.

I've logged more than twenty-five years of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and yet somehow I managed to never notice the bizarre, crazypants way Number One (a.k.a Commander Riker, a.k.a. actor Jonathan Frakes) sits down. Guess that's another symptom of Gene Roddenberry's utopian vision of the future. Watch and be amazed. Or at least amused.

From Monday's Daily Show, Jon Stewart demolishes the collection of cognitive dissonance that is the annual NRA convention. First part below, second part after the jump. Hoo-boy, this is a good'n, so enjoy.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Don't know how I missed posting this one. As part of the Star Trek Into Darkness marketing push, Spock future and Spock past (I leave it to you to determine which is which) teamed up yet again to appear in this fun spot for Audi. I especially like the callback to Leonard Nimoy's '60s-era LP "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins."

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