After getting done with the redesign last week I clearly put it into shutdown mode. I figure I earned it:) Anyway, I'm back!

Now I just have to work through a whole stack of draft posts. I've got about a half a dozen movies to work my way through, plus a book or two, so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't go too in depth on a few of these.

On with it, then?

Why oh why did I wait as long as I did to see District 9? This is scummy, screwed up (in a good way) science-fiction. There's no wide-eyed Close Encounters awe here- just grime and xenophobia and hacked-together, destructive technology. I've got lots of love for ugly science fiction and this movie certainly fills that gap. Half mockumentary, half action piece, District 9 is a solid couple of hours- a little bit of social commentary, a wee bit of a love story, some nasty-ass special effects and a good chunk of mecha-inspired action.

I'm not quite sure it deserved an Academy Award nomination, but who knows what's up with the Best Picture category after they went to 10 nominees. Check it out.

Hell on Wheels is a phenomenal documentary filmed during the 2003 Tour de France. Directed by Pepe Danquart, the film focuses on Team Telekom, so there's a lot of star power on display throughout. Zabel, Kloden, and Vinokourov all feature prominently. Lance Armstrong is also a presence through highlights from his fifth Tour victory- his near disastrous off-road excursion being one of the most memorable.

Which isn't to imply that this film is "about" the 2003 Tour as a sporting event. It's more about the Tour as a cultural touchstone for France and the world and as a personal battle for the riders. The drama of that particular race is glimpsed, but not lingered upon.

That said, if you're interested at all in this most glorious sporting event, then this documentary is for you. The beauty of France, the intensity of the competition, the insane daily grind and the pain are all laid out in an honest, fascinating manner. Mixing the personal (the interviews with Zabel and Rolf Aldag are especially nice) and the public (plenty of great race footage,) Hell on Wheels is a definitive look at the Tour de France from the perspective of a professional rider.

For full disclosure's sake, I am a bike racing nerd. YMMV.

I was never a huge fan of the original series. I liked it, but not that much.

I really only liked two of the subsequent movies (Wraith of Khan and the one with the whales.)

I never watched any of the spin-off series.

But I'm a big fan of J.J. Abrams and I'm a compete nerd. Therefore, I was excited for this reboot of Star Trek.

I was right to be excited. It was a blast. It's a fun couple of hours- nice to look at, full of explodo and briskly paced.

It was interesting how quickly I adopted the new faces to their roles- even Harold. While it definitely speaks to the lesser emotional attachment I have to the originals, it definitely speaks well to the casting and the writing. The casting for finding people who fit the types really well and the writing for refreshing the personalities without losing their identifiable characteristics. Within just a few minutes I was comfortable with the new reality and remained so throughout. This was especially true with the "big reveal" near the end of the film. I won't spoil it, but it was a typical Abrams plot device and it wrapped the film up in what I thought was a nice little package.

All in all, one to check out.

Bring on the sequels.

In some ways I'm lucky I didn't watch Firefly when it was originally aired because I feel like I'd still be depressed about it being canceled. I couldn't have enjoyed it more. A funny, action-packed, scruffy, western, space opera? What's not to like?
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I'm finally catching up with my movie reviews….

Tom said Paranormal Activity could have been a 15 minute Youtube video. He was right. The best bits of this film- the stuff that generated all of those crazy reaction shots in the trailer would barely be bothered with the ten minute limit.

They were great. Simple, but creepy.

The rest of the film? The rest of it was conversation about the creepy stuff. It was okay, well acted, etc, but the whole time I was just waiting for them to turn the lights off and go to bed so I could see what happened next.