The Cosmic Ballet Goes On: RIP Leonard Nimoy

Rest in peace Mr Leonard Nimoy. To many he will always be the definitive Spock, but to me he will always be the guy you didn't really want to sit next to on a monorail ride through Springfield. I hope the cosmic ballet continues to delight you in the next life Mr Nimoy. So long and thanks for the entertainment!



Does anyone wanna switch seats?

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

In my mind, what J.J Abrams has done with the Star Trek franchise is nothing short of a miracle. The Star Trek of 2009 and its sequel have made space, the final frontier exciting, sexy and a bold step forward/backward. Whereas the last film was pretty much Enterprise Assemble and had to deal with bringing the crew together, Into Darkness wastes not a moment, plunging us straight into the action at warp speed and rarely slowing down.

I'm one of those people who never saw a single Star Trek film before Abrams came on board and I never really had an interest. Speaking from this perspective, Star Trek Into Darkness makes perfect sense to me. It all comes down to the central relationship between Kirk and Spock, brilliantly played by Chris Pine and particularly Zachary Quinto. Right from the opening set piece, their contradicting personalities and priorities are to the fore and the bromance sizzles with bust ups but also a deep mutual understanding.

The supporting cast are also fun though they get little to do compared to Benedict Cumberbatch's villain. Spurting monologues like a true thespian, Cumberbatch goes for grand, strutting around with steely eyes, and excels as the terrorist threatening the crew and more. John Harrison is a fearful creation with a worthy cause and he raises the dramatic stakes incredibly going from foe to (sort-of) friend to foe again.

The action and special effects are spectacular but never overwhelm in the same way as some of the more CG assisted scenes in other summer blockbusters (namely Man of Steel). All in all Abrams has nailed the reinvention and whether he chooses to return for a third Star Trek film or not, he has set the franchise up beautifully for further adventures. Let's all cross our fingers and hope that he can he can do the same for the galaxy far far away...

Recent reviews at I Love That Film:

Monsters University Review

Man of Steel Review

This is the End Review 

Fast and Furious 6 Review

21 & Over Review

Iron Man 3 Review

Olympus Has Fallen Review

Spring Breakers Review

Fandom: The Relationship between Audiences and Films Part 6

Films do not just have the potential to have an effect on audiences but also audiences can have an affect on films. With fandom it can go both ways. Fans are people who love a particular film, genre, character or star and they share camaraderie with other fans. Sometimes being a fan can involve a huge range of activities such as attending conventions, dressing up, writing fan fiction, blogging, starting a website, attending premieres, collecting merchandise, writing fan mail or even getting into film production and referencing the films you are a fan of.

Though the films have clearly had an effect on the fans by making them get obsessed and turning the film into a hobby for the person, the fans also have an impact on the film. They turn it into more than a film, making it a cultural phenomenon such as Star Wars. Fans are now becoming filmmakers so Kevin Smith references Star Wars in most of his movies and J.J. Abrams is now making a Star Wars movie after being a huge fan of the original. Fans have expanded the Star Wars universe by writing their own fan fiction and their continuing love for the franchise has led to more and more sequels. Some fans have even gone as far as to call ‘Jedi’ their religion and some Trekkies have learned the (fictional) language Klingon from Star Trek. Some Avatar fans were even reported to be feeling depressed or suicidal as they could not visit the fictional planet Pandora. How much of this is really believable is debatable but there can be no doubt that fans take films very seriously and films can have a big impact on peoples lives.Check out this story on the tension between fans.

Did you miss...?

Part 1 on active vs passive spectatorship.

Part 2 on the pleasures of film watching. 

Part 3 on frameworks of interpretation.

Part 4 on media literacy and intertextuality.

Part 5 on the effects of film.

Read more:

Part 7 on pre and post-viewing experiences and conditions of reception.

Are you a fan? What do your fan activities consist of?