"Star Trek Into Darkness" Review, Or Set Phasers To F@#*ing Awesome

When Star Trek was released in 2009, the JJ Abrams directed reboot of Gene Roddenberry's landmark series was given a new lease on life. After years of diminishing returns on TV and in theatres, many had thought that the franchise was all but dead.

But the reboot was accomplished with style and verve, the new cast managed to evoke the spirit of the originals without being impersonations. And JJ Abrams wowed with his confident handling of the material, managing to capture Star Trek's inherent adventurous qualities, but updating them for 21st century audiences.

Still, some Trekkers hated the film. It was criticized for bad science and a plot driven largely by coincidence and convenience (all those charges are true by the way, but most space opera is driven by those very same things, and I'd argue that most original Trek is driven by those things too). Finally, they really disliked what they called the Star Wars-ification of Trek. That Roddenberry's saga of peaceful exploration had been replaced by more action, more space battles and less of the "vision" that defined Star Trek.

Well, those people may not like Star Trek Into Darkness any better, but that is certainly their loss, because the sequel betters the 2009 film in almost every regard, delivering a film that is funny, thrilling, emotional, and action-packed.

Will We Learn "The Name of the Doctor" This Weekend?

This Saturday brings the 50th anniversary season of Doctor Who to a close with the airing of The Name of the Doctor. If you aren't excited by that sentence then I don't know what you're even doing on this site. Seriously. Doctor Who is incredible.

While the show runners have hinted that the finale will solve the mystery surrounding new companion Clara Oswald, the title also suggests that the viewers may learn the answer to the show's longest running mystery; Doctor Who? It's a plot point that has been set up by show runner Steven Moffat for a long time, most explicitly at the conclusion of the previous series.

That Funke Is Some Kind of Something

Arrested Development's new season begins on Netflix this month. I could not be more excited. And Mitch Hurwitz and co. certainly know how to use the interwebs.

Case in point, this little viral video of Tobias Funke's "Sizzling Reel":

That.....is.....amazing.

You can also go to Tobias' web page. It has the best title of all time, and you can see all of the range and versatility that the world's only analrapist can bring to your project.

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Ordered to Full Series

In the no-brainer decision category, ABC has ordered Marvel Studios' first TV project, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to full series.

Taking place after the events of The Avengers, and tying into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series follows a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, led by Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who investigate "unclassified" cases. The series was developed by Marvel's current creative mastermind (and Avengers writer/director) Joss Whedon, who also directed the pilot episode. The pilot was written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.

The series will also star Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge. You can see the 30 second promo for the series below:

So, that looks pretty epic. Obviously this is a no-brainer for ABC, I mean who wouldn't want to tie themselves into probably the biggest franchise going right now? And for Marvel, it's another platform for them to integrate into. Although Whedon has said that the series will focus on the periphery of the Marvel Universe, I'm sure Marvel is looking at this as a cheap way and lower risk way to introduce characters that could conceivably launch new film franchise or bolt into existing ones.

Trailer Park - Grumpy General, Magic Butler, Not Bob Dylan and Gump vs. Pirates

Starting a new feature here on the Nerd Report that I'm calling Trailer Park. If you're like me, and you love watching trailers, even bad ones, you'll hopefully enjoy. So, let's dive right in!

First up is Ender's Game:

So, I've never read Ender's Game or any of the novels in that series. There's a few reasons for that, and only some of them have to do with Orson Scott Card's homophobia, which has cost him a number of things, inlcuding a job with DC writing some Superman stories. I will say that this trailer made me somwhat interested in the film, and as my interest level prior to this was absolutely zero, that's an effective trailer. It's very nice to see that someone has slipped Harrison Ford the Geritol he sorely needed. He still looks grumpy, but at least he no longer resembles the other dwarf; Sleepy. Also, man, they are pimping the Acadmey Award nominations in the cast, huh? Pretty shameless attempt to scream, "We're classy!"

RIP - Ray Harryhausen

The film world lost a visionary today with the passing of Ray Harryhausen, visual effects pioneer whose legendary work included effects for films like Mighty Joe Young, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and the original Clash of the Titans. He was 92 years old.

Harryhausen's love of effects began in 1933, when, at the age of 13, he saw King Kong. He fell in love with the film, coinciding with the simultaneous beginning of a life-long love of science fiction, and he began experimenting with making short films that focused on the then nascent filed of visual effects.

After having managed to meet Willis O'Brien, the man behind the landmark effect in King Kong, O'Brien began mentoring the young Harryhausen. Following WWII, where he served with Frank Capra, Harryhausen was hired to work as an animator on Mighty Joe Young. O'Brien trusted Harryhausen enough at this point, that most of the animating chores fell to him.

"Iron Man 3" Review, or God Help Marvel if RDJ Ever Decides to Quit Being Tony Stark

Tony Stark and friend

Iron Man 3 marks the end of Robert Downey Jr's current contract with Marvel Studios, and when one leaves the theatre at its conclusion, you can't help thinking that they need to back a Brinks truck full of money, or yoga mats, or camels, or whatever weird stuff RDJ is into in order to keep him in the iron suit. Because, at this point, Downey IS this franchise, able to make scenes come alive with snarky one-liner or witty aside.

Which isn't to say that Iron Man 3 isn't enjoyable, or that it isn't a vast improvement over the second installment. As directed and co-written by action icon Shane Black, Iron Man 3 is a great time at the movies, delivering all the thrills, laughs and fun you expect from these types of films. But Black and Downey also deliver something a little more, which is an examination of Tony Stark in the aftermath of the world-shaking events of The Avengers. Granted, it doesn't go much beyond a rather shallow depiction of PTSD, but that's still more depth than the customary summer blockbuster provides, and Downey owns Stark so much by this point, that he gives the character enough subtlety to communicate a lot without saying much.