Top 5 Reasons the New Star Trek kicks ass

I don't know that I am what you would classify as a "Trekkie", but I have to admit that up until the last Star Trek movie I have seen every Star Trek movie in theaters since around 1994 or so. I personally just love Sci-Fi, especially Sci-Fi that has a built in history that I can dive into. That being said, I have been eagerly awaiting this new Star Trek movie and franchise reboot for the last 6 months. I was able to catch the first showing on Saturday morning, and even that was sold out. The movie uses Time Travel and a really nasty villain to completely reboot this storied franchise. Fans of the The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and even the original show might be up in arms about completely changing history but I have a theory for that. Ultimately people want to be entertained, and if you keep making good quality movies like this one they will buy it. Also the movie acknowledges that this is now an alternate reality and that things will only change from here. I like that. Respect what came before, but don't be tied down by it. So with that here is my Top 5 reasons why this movie kicked ass.

#5 Zoe Saldana playing as Uhuru - She was great in this movie and it was nice seeing this fine actress in something more then a Drumline type movie.

#4 John Cho as Sulu - I'm a big Cho fan, so he could have just been a face in this movie and I would have been excited, but then Cho had to make Sulu a bad ass with a sword. Bravo.

#3 The Sci-Fi and the Special Effects - From the Mining Ship and the use of a planetary drill, to the costumes, the design of the Enterprise Bridge, the space fights, the bowels of the ship and all the pipes, to the red matter bubble. This movie did a great job of using special effects in great ways and capturing the Science Fiction of it being a space movie.

#2 Chris Pine as Jim Kirk - That's right Jim Kirk as he likes to be called, not James T. Kirk. I'll tell you what, the best part of this movie is that it captures the arrogance of Kirk really well and Pine shows it in his eyes and his in smirks that no matter what you throw at him he will come back for more. You only beat him if you kill him, and he refuses to die. But Kirk gets beat up A LOT.

#1 Bad Robot - From Director J.J. Abrams to the writers and production team they did a great job of capturing the essence and fun of the Star Trek series while making it younger, revamping it, and not being a slave to it's ginormous history.

Top 5 Movies to look forward to Summer 2009

This one is a quick one. I just want to highlight some of the movies that I am looking forward to this summer. So many good ones to pick from!

#5 - Star Trek - May 8th. Really excited to see what Abrams has done with the franchise and what new directions it will go. I have already read some luke warm reviews, but I think this will be a lot of fun in theaters to see.

#4 - The Hangover - June 5th. In the vein of buddy comedies like Old School and others comes this movie about four guys that go to Vegas, have a blast, and the next day have lost one of their party, cannot remember things that have happened, and have acquired a baby. Sounds awesome with Zac Galifinakis and Ed Helms.

#3 - Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - Okay, so the first movie does not hold up to multiple viewings and it was hard to tell who the good guys were from the bad guys in some scenes, but I am still a child of the 80's and still love Mecha robot action!

#2 - Funny People - July 5th. Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, Leslie Bibb, a film about comics, and Judd Apatow? I'm there. Sandler plays a stand up comedian who is diagnosed with a fatal disease and Rogen plays the up and coming stand up who takes care of him. Until he finds out he is not going to die and decides to try and win back the love of his life....from Eric Bana.

#1 - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - July 15th. The movie that I have been waiting for since last August will finally come to theaters. Apparntley all the negative reviews were addressed and new scenes were added. I love this series and cannot wait to see Ron and Ginny finally playing Quidditch on the big screen. Something the last movie glossed over for time.