FilmRoar

Can’t get enough Lord of the Rings? Well here is some news that should get you licking your chops. How does a theatrical run of the extended version of Fellowship of the Ring, followed by the extended version of The Two Towers and culminating in a midnight screening of the brand new Return of the King strike you? Ok, wipe your chin and read the article on www.theonering.net for details.

Starting the week of Dec. 5, the extended DVD cut of “Fellowship of the Ring” will be released in some 100 or so theaters in the U.S. and in 20 theaters in Canada.

Then, the week of Dec. 12, sequel “Two Towers” will unspool, just a month after having premiered on DVD, leading up to a worldwide Dec. 16 daylong marathon, during which all three films will be shown back-to-back. Exhibit guidelines call for a 3 p.m. showing of “Fellowship” followed by a 7 p.m. screening of “Two Towers” and then an 11 p.m. screening of “Return of the King,” which will carry over into Dec. 17 — the day of its global release.

In another very well written episode TNG: A Matter of Honor we once again get to see one of the Enterprise regulars stretch a bit. This time it is Jonathan Frakes’s turn to show some range as Riker gets to serve on an officer exchange program aboard a Klingon cruiser. This delightful opportunity to see life aboard a Klingon ship gave me hope when I heard about the suggestion to make an all-Klingon series (which was later nixed in favor of “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995)).

Remember the Titans (2000)

I am surprised that the Disney film Remember the Titans (2000) did not receive more attention and acclaim when it was out. I remember avoiding it as yet another “jocks overcome adversity to win one for the team football flick”. The movie is more of a “jocks overcome prejudice about diversity to win one for the team football flick”. Or if you want to take it a step further, “people come together and build a working team” movie. That is the context in which I saw this movie, my boss at work had us watch it in order to spur some thought around teamwork and team building. I think he chose the title well, the movie was quite good and definitely thought provoking.
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TNG: Elementary Dear Data showed a great combination of good writing and incredible set and costume design. It also gave Brent Spiner an opportunity to drop out of role for a short while and show off his acting skills. All in all a very good episode.

How do you give a recognized classic by one of cinemas greatest filmmakers a bad review? Like this: I did not like it. At all. I disliked the surrealistic circus of ridiculous acts in Satyricon so much that I started fast-forwarding through the movie after a half an hour and saw the rest as flashing images on fast forward rather than waste the rest of my evening.

I am almost certain that they dusted off an old Star Trek (1966) original series script for TNG: Where Silence Has Lease. They should have left it in whatever vault it came from.

I moderated a movie panel at a convention last year where I praised director Robert Rodriguez (Mariachi, El (1992), Desperado (1995)) for his innovative and inexpensive film making but made fun of him for going commercial with the kid-flick Spy Kids (2001). One of the people in the room challenged me on my bias with the argument that Spy Kids was actually a good movie and worth watching. I added the movie to my to-watch-list and just got a chance to do so when I noticed a DVD copy sitting on the shelf of my local library.
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