The other night, I dined alone at a local greasy spoon called Johanna’s Kitchen before meeting a friend to see the new Bond movie. I don’t often get the chance to just hang out on my own like that anymore, so I relish the experience when it presents itself. I sat at the counter like I remember the old guys doing when I was a kid, I indulged in some fine people-watching, and I savored every last bite of a mushroom-Swiss burger the size of my head.
This being the 21st Century and all, there was of course a flat-screen TV mounted above the counter. Normally, I hate that, because public TVs are almost inevitably tuned to some sporting event, and I don’t care one bit about sports. In fact, I find the screaming crowds and over-excited announcers to be downright bad for my digestion. Thankfully (and unexpectedly), this TV was set to the History Channel, specifically a documentary about the Battle of Gettysburg, so I found myself enjoying occasional buzzes of recognition whenever the camera lingered on a place I recall from my Gettysburg trip earlier this year. I just love those moments when I’m able to point at a TV screen and exclaim, “Hey, I’ve been there!” But that’s kind of beside the point of this post.
Getting at last to my point, during each commercial break in the program, there was an ad for a Civil War-themed video game. (Gotta love that synergy!) The sound was down low, so the first time the ad ran, I wasn’t certain I’d heard the voiceover correctly. I paid closer attention on the next break, and sure enough, the narration said exactly what I thought it said the first time. While a computer-generated man in a blue wool coat and a forage cap runs around the screen carrying a musket, a deep, “movie-trailer-guy” type voice breathlessly proclaims, “These are the missions that flew under the radar!”
Does anyone notice anything… odd… about that particular metaphor being used in conjunction with a game set in the 1860s? Or is it just me? Think about it…
Civil War game advertisers: FAIL.
Also, did your Bond theater have a trailer for the new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie? Mine did and I wondered what you’d think of it.
That ad was standard. I wondered what you thought about it too Jason.
Yep, I saw the Trek Rebooted trailer. I’m planning to write more extensively about this, but the short version is that I’m… ambivalent.
I think everyone knows I’m opposed to most remakes on principle, and there are some iconic movies and TV shows that I especially think should be declared off limits. Star Trek is one of those, so my initial response to the trailer was a knee-jerk, LOLcat-style “DO NOT WANT.”
That said, I’ve watched the trailer several times now (thanks to the magic of phone cams and the Internet), and it’s kind of growing on me. There are some striking images in there, some of which remind me of posters I remember seeing advertised on the backs of comic books in the ’70s, and those of course appeal strongly to me. (I really like the shot of Kirk on his motorcycle looking at the Enterprise under construction… although it seems weird that she’d be built on the ground instead of in orbit…)
But I’m also getting a major Starship Troopers vibe from this thing, and that’s bad (I hated Starship Troopers). I don’t like all the adolescent-angsty stuff about Kirk wanting to find a place to fit in, find his worth, etc. My understanding of his character has always been that he’s driven by an insatiable desire to see what’s “out there,” not to have a “life less ordinary.” The idea of his crew becoming an extended family came later and was, I feel, partly an invention of the early fan movement that the producers picked up on and worked into subsequent stories. Kirk was initially, above all other things, an explorer, and I don’t get that from the hellraising kid that we see in the trailer. (The movie may prove me wrong, and I hope I’ll be able to admit it if it does. But so far it looks less like “the final frontier” than “Top Gun in space.”)
I also have misgivings about the way the action scenes are cut together, i.e., they’re the usual jittery, incomprehensible nonsense that passes for movie action these days. I hate that approach in general, because I’m a grumpy old guy with a weak stomach, but I also think it’s wrong for Trek; the Enterprise is a stately, majestic sailing ship, not a nimble little fighter plane. I’m hoping all the jittery stuff is just for the traile, where everything is amped up to generate audience excitement, but if the actual movie is like that, too, well… FAIL.
So, like I said, ambivalent. I kind of liked what I saw, and I kind of didn’t…