Bert Vandecasteele

Month: May 2009

  • Star Trek

    Beam me up, Buttercup

    When I read that J.J. Abrams was rebooting the Star Trek franchise, the first thought to rush through my mind was “Oh God”. Now this doesn’t mean much. I know. In fact, I didn’t know myself what I meant with it. On the one hand, I was psyched to have another Abrams movie coming. On the other hand though, Star Trek brought back memories of static acting, bad backdrops and overweight people in wheelchairs pressed into insufficient amounts of spandex spouting Klingon insults (yes, I have been to a con or two in my life).

    After a while, however, and after having seen the magnificent trailers, the idea grew on me, and I realized that I actually didn’t know as much about the Star Trek universe as I thought I did. Star Trek (2009) could be my way in – I could sneak in through the back door and ignore the history the house-in-renovation had. And I’m glad I did.

    Kirk and the Battle of the Bar Brawlers

    In typical Abrams fashion, the bottom layer of this movie (the part of the cake that then gets topped with cream and all that good stuff) are the characters. There’s Kirk, your typical wild boy bar brawler, and on the other side of the spectrum, Spock, the condensed smart-ass with a temper perfectly hidden inside of him. These two characters alone could have their own movie, but instead they are supported by a whole bunch of underused characters (sequel! sequel!): a black chick, a chinese dude, a russian guy, a scotish lad… The list goes on. And screams SEVENTIES in my ears at a deafening volume.

    Just like a lot of J.J. Abrams productions, the two main characters would get along fine if it weren’t for this one little hick-up. In the case of Star Trek, we’re talking control: should you follow your gut or think things through before going for it? Obviously, the answer is somewhere in the middle – and that’s the moral of our story. No biggie.

    You’re gullible, McFly!

    If you go watch this, do not expect to be blown away by the depth of the story. In fact, if you expect any kind of earnest story at all, you risk being disappointed. Star Trek seems to wander the path of Back to the Future and Indiana Jones by mocking the very thing they’re trying to convince you of. Star Trek, whilst being an awesome movie, gets quite absurd at times, uses every cliche in the book, but it’s all done with such
    air and a tongue-in-cheeck attitude that you let things slide. Even if they seem to make certain errors in their own mythology. It’s all in the paradoxes.

    So for those expecting to have a deep experience, you’re out of luck. The space theme is kind of passé now compared to the seventies (I groaned when I first saw a space ship in this movie), so I guess this is one of the more interesting way to still tell these kind of stories. You just need to make sure the characters are fresh and interesting… and mildly funny (even if unintended).

    In all…

    If you’re going to reboot a franchise, you gotta do it right. You need a careful mix of things that aged well (from which you stay far, far away) and new things to replace those that haven’t aged well. Oh, and in the case of Star Trek, you apparently also need to set up an alternate universe.

    Awesome little movie. Can’t wait for the sequels.

  • Ep. 15 – Follow the Leader

    The Episode…

    Is it that time of the year already? It seem like only yesterday when Season Five made its flashing debut with Locke asking Richard the question: “When am I?” Now, the Richard story comes full circle as the newly resurrected Locke sends good old Alpert in to save Locke’s life. Now we know how Richard knew. He was telling the truth all along. ” You told me.” And now we know the significance of the compass to Richard. “It points North, John.” Simply awesome. That compass has been floating through space and time with no one to have created it. Awesome.

    I can’t say this episode was breathtaking. It was set-up, just like every year: a very strong episode that leaves the big reveals to the next one. Jacob. Jughead. The statue. Its shadow. The undoing of the entire series so far. And, while the story tags along: probably something interesting about Richard Alpert. More on that in my conclusion.

    John Locke isn’t John Locke anymore. He’s new and improved, a sort of John Locke 2.0. While watching this episode, I couldn’t help but notice that Jack seems to have become the new John Locke: strolling through the jungle, doing crazy things and believing in destiny. I like this new Jack. And is it just me, or has Kate become a wall
    flower – or just the new Jack? When Kate entered the sub, Sawyer and Juliet tossed each other a “we have to travel with her?!” kind of look. I loved it.

    I don’t like Kate and I like how everyone seems to acknowledge that. Kate’s definitely been the most annoying character of the season so far, and I think I’ve pretty much given the character her final chance. She’s got to do something really spectacular in the finale to get on my good side again. I hope Sawyer stays with Juliet. I hope they have cute blond little seventies babies. I want to see those babies.

    The Questions…

    Did the Losties end up on the island by coincidence? I think this question is starting to get a bit shaky, and pretty much boils down to your definition of “coincidence”. If we live in a world made of course-correction and determinism, does coincidence still exist? In a way, the entire run of things was a coincidence: the incident, Desmond, the crash… But if you look at it differently, it was meant to be: it was destiny – predetermined to happen. What a literary question – unheard of in a mainstream TV series. Let’s see if they explore this further in the finale.

    An important question going into the finale will be the identity of Jacob. Locke’s statement that he wanted to kill him crashed on us as a bomb, but in a way it’s not that crazy. For the last three seasons, Jacob’s been an invisible force, a sort of anti-God, making the Others do certain things. Or is it the other way around: do the Others do things, and say it was Jacob will? In either way, Jacob has definitely derailed into something decadent. Or has John’s resurrection put him on a different side? An anti-Jacob side?

    In All…

    There were three leaders in the last episode. There was Jack, looking for the bomb. There was John, leading his people on a mission to slaughter a God. But in my opinion, the real leader of this episode was Richard Alpert. And – in both times – he’s not feeling good. He’s not feeling good at all. His authority and good reasoning is being questioned, and he knows nothing good will come of it. Is Richard also one of the walking dead? Did he come from the Black Rock?

    Favourite Quote:
    Juliet: I love you.
    Sawyer: Well I love you back.

  • Ep. 16 – The Whole Truth

    There you have it. Another layer has been added to Sun and Jin’s ever changing backstory. Now we know who Sun learned her English from. And the tragedy that made their already rocky relationship even worse: infertility. So… the island is apparently to Jin what the Nyle is to Kanaan: a huge boost in cultivationability. If that is even a word. It should.

    It appears that Henry Gale (from Minnesota) is not the nicest of people. But then again: how would you be if you had experienced the things he had? First he gets shot by an arrow, then beaten to a pulp. I’d get a bit cynical too if that’s the way I can control the people around me. Stellar, absolutely stellar performance at the end. I wonder what Sayid, Ana-Lucia and Charlie will find?

    Was it just me, or was there a very long pause when Jin asked Sun whether the baby was his. Obviously, if she’s been with someone else, she can’t know whose baby it is if she’s only found out about the pregnancy while on the island. Somehow I think the title of the episode is misleading. We have yet to find out the whole truth.

    As is usual on this show.

    Favourite Quote: Henry: You guys got any milk?

  • Ep. 14 – The Variable

    The Episode…

    Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!! When Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse teased this episode as being The Constant’s brother, I held my heart in anticipation: no way an episode can be as good as The Constant when it’s been announced as being so. So I shrugged and forgot about it.

    But Oh My God! This episode really was exactly what they told it would be. It delivers loads of answers, builds up to the finale in a way I could not have imagined, and it’s so dramatic on a whole new level. Too bad poor, poor Daniel Farady had to die for it.

    And that was the brilliant part. Sure, if you watch the episode a second time, you can see it coming about three minutes in. But the first time you’re watching, you’re thinking that they possibly cannot kill Farady. It cannot happen. Farady is Season Five’s Libby. You think he’ll make it… but he won’t.

    Right before Faraday died, he revealed it all: that there’s more than just constants in this world. That there’s variables – people. Kant and Rousseau would be pleased to hear Faraday’s words. Does this mean everything up till now has been in vein? That this destiny stuff will be wrong? That they will detonate Jughead and the first five seasons will have never happened?

    In my opinion, that is very likely. I mean, there’s a few different roads the finale could walk. First of all, the bomb could not explode, making their efforts useless and showing us the whole constant/destiny thing again. Second, the bomb could explode but it had always exploded. This would basically define the “Whatever happened, happened” thing this season seems to have.

    In my opinion, they oughta walk the third, daring line. And I think they will. The bomb will explode. And the crash of Flight 815… will have never happened. Once again, people who read this theory dismiss it as jumping the shark. But didn’t they do that when the flashforward thing got out? And when the frozen donkey wheel got out and the island disappeared? We are looking forward to a finale of epic proportions.

    The Questions…

    We finally know all there is to know about Farady. Except for the book. Was the book truly just a notebook he kept because he had memory problems? I was kind of thinking he had been traveling through time and had given the book to himself at some point. But seeing how he’s dead… my theory doesn’t have much chance anymore.

    In All…

    This was easily the best episode of Season 5 so far. In fact, it might be one of the top episode of the series ever. It’s up there with The Constant, that’s for sure. I just can’t get over the shock effect of Eloise killing her own son. And knowing about it all of her life. And still not letting the poor kid playing the piano. Bitch.

    Favourite Quote:
    Young Daniel: “But I want to keep playing the piano. I can do both. I can make time.”
    Eloise: “If only you could.”

  • Ep. 15 – Maternity Leave

    Well, apparently it can be done. Flashbacks can also happen to stuff that happened on the island. It’s a nice mechanic, and I feel that the explanation of what happened to Claire after her abduction by Ethan was a satisfying one. They were trying to get the baby out alive, but didn’t really care about Claire’s well-being. Well, I’d like to believe Ethan does, but he’s just a cog in a bigger system it seems. Like how he answers to beardless Mr. Friedly, for instance. Interestingly, this showed Ethan in a completely different light. Apparently there’s more to him than just a Jungle Brawler – he has a soft spot for Claire. I wonder what kind of sickness he felt he was protecting Aaron from?

    This episode shed a bit of light on the Others. So they are using the Dharma Initiative medical station for their own cause. Also, they are masters of disguise – which is great. It means they’re not just savages tromping through the jungle eating babies and dragging their teddy bears as trophies. Big relief that was. I’m kind of amazed that the medical station was empty. Why did the Others leave it? Did they leave it at all? Or are they just trying to make it look deserted, just like they dress up and play savage?

    We saw Rousseau’s daughter Alex! …At least, I think we did. It would make sense that the sixteen year old girl that looks exactly like Rousseau is in fact her daughter. I wonder if she knows anything at all? She seemed really nice – she saved Claire’s life together with her mother. How’s that for a nice metaphor?

    Favourite Quote:
    Claire: So, you’re a shrink, right?
    Libby: I’m a clinical psychologist, but “shrink” works, too.