Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 712
July 21, 2016
“Star Trek Beyond”: Humor and adventure abound in this course-correcting sequel
Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto and in "Star Trek Beyond" (Credit: Paramount PIctures)
There’s a scene from Jason Reitman’s “Thank You For Smoking” that’s impossible to erase from your mind when watching “Star Trek Beyond,” the third entry in the rebooted film franchise.
Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a lobbyist for the tobacco industry, is pitching Jeff (Rob Lowe), a Hollywood super-agent who never sleeps, on bringing cigarettes back to the movies. Jeff envisions a science-fiction romance where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Brad Pitt light up in space — in between ravishing each other’s naked bodies, that is. Nick likes the idea, except for one problem: “Wouldn’t they blow up in an all-oxygen environment?” Jeff is prepared for this question. “It’s an easy fix,” he says. “One line of dialogue: ‘Thank god we invented the… whatever… device.”
“Star Trek Beyond” is a movie full of whatever devices, where an outdated ship that crash-landed on a hostile planet a century ago can be easily fixed up with a little TLC and an attack of killer bees is neutralized by blasting the Beastie Boys. The film’s own logic is so casually convoluted that, like Ellen Page in “Inception,” the characters have a way of narrating the action to the audience, just to make sure you’re following along. (You still may not be.)
“Beyond” is the first “Star Trek” film to be penned by Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the cult comedy Cornetto Trilogy (“The World’s End,” “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead”) with his frequent collaborator, Edgar Wright. Pegg’s script is a nonsense, but it is a spirited one, the closest in tone of the recent trilogy to the original “Star Trek” series. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the show was expansive with ideas about man’s existential fate, and subsequent installments only expounded on its philosophical optimism. “It is the struggle itself that is most important,” waxes Data in “The Next Generation.” “We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.”
At the opening of “Beyond,” a sense of fatigue has set in over the Enterprise, and perhaps the films themselves. Kirk (Chris Pine), now three years into his mission to explore the vast recesses of the galaxy, tells his captain’s log that the infinitum of space is both beautiful and despairing: While it means anything is possible, the indistinguishable days turn punishing. “Things have started to feel a little episodic,” Kirk bemoans in a strong monologue that’s often quite pretty.
That kind of self-referential humor permeates “Beyond,” directed by Justin Lin (“Fast Five”) with a sense of rollicking adventure missing from the previous entry, “Into Darkness,” weighed down by dour ballast. “Star Trek Beyond,” more than anything, is designed as a course-correct from the previous film. “Into Darkness” was hampered by its own super-seriousness and an Uhura-Spock romance that felt ripped from a Katherine Heigl movie, but “Beyond” focuses on the real romance of “Star Trek” — the relationships between its crew members.
Spock (Zachary Quinto), following the destruction of his homeland, is contemplating leaving the Enterprise to carry on the work of the recently-deceased Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), his alter-ego from another universe. But as his team reminds him, Spock is needed on the ship — especially by Kirk, who wouldn’t be able to function without his right-hand man.
The fraternal banter between the Enterprise crew is the film’s strongest aspect, reminiscent of the jocular energy of Pegg’s earlier screenplays. After Spock decides to part ways with Uhura, he gives her a necklace as a token of his affection. He refuses to take it back, saying it would be against Vulcan custom. It turns out that the stone embedded in the jewelry is not only radioactive but easy to detect via the ship’s scanners. “You gave your girlfriend a tracking device?” Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) concludes. Spock might be appalled by the suggestion, but he can’t fault the validity of the doctor’s logic.
“Beyond” undercuts the unfortunate sexism of the previous entry (why did Carol take off her shirt again?) by giving the series its best female character in ages: Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), a warrior who seeks vengeance for her people. She also lacks an understanding of basic social graces. Sporting an accent straight out of “The Fifth Element,” Jaylah repeatedly refers to Capt. Kirk as “James T” and sits in his chair — feet up — without asking. Charmingly unpredictable, she’s my kind of vigilante.
Jaylah will get her chance at revenge when the Enterprise is attacked by Krall, a tyrannical despot who commands a swarm of mechanical bees to attack the ship. Like the trio of vampyric models in Nicolas Winding Refn’s “The Neon Demon,” Krall feasts on the young in his quest for immortal life. He purges the Enterprise of its crew, who will be taken hostage and harvested.
Krall is played by Idris Elba, one of the finest actors of his generation. You might remember him from Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation” or “The Wire,” where he portrays a warlord and a gangster, respectively. Both of these men prey on youth in different ways. The Commandant needs child soldiers for his army, while Stringer Bell relies on truant teenagers to run his drug enterprise. While Elba, a fearsome and volatile presence, adds dramatic heft to the role, he is wasted underneath pounds of prosthetics that make him look like Ivan Ooze. (Bryan Singer’s most recent “X-Men” film shared this issue.) The actor is virtually unrecognizable until the final third, where he is finally unmasked.
“Beyond” is undoubtedly messy, like a Starfleet ship that’s taken its fair share of beatings, but it is frequently a reminder of how good the series can be when all its engines are in working order. Opening a box left behind by Commander Spock, Spock the younger finds a photo of the original crew. That nostalgia, both for its source material and time gone by, is both reverent and earned. Given the losses of both Nimoy and Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekhov, since the previous feature, it’s hard not to share the film’s wonder as the destiny that awaits us all.
The film may not go boldly, but it’s a welcome homecoming for the beloved series.
July 20, 2016
Mike Pence fails to mention Cruz kerfuffle — but unlike earlier speakers, at least he endorsed him
Mike Pence (Credit: Reuters/John Sommers II)
Indiana Governor Mike Pence — who, if the recent report by the New York Times is accurate, will actually be the president while Trump is off “making America great again” — was set to deliver what GOP insiders characterized as a “high-stakes speech” at the Republican National Convention Wednesday.
People within Trump’s camp were (very correctly, as it turned out) concerned that Texas Senator Ted Cruz wouldn’t be enthusiastic enough in his declaration of the candidate’s conservative credentials, leaving it up to Pence — whose record on issues near and dear to the conservative cause is sparkling — to prop up the man who would be, nominally at least, the president.
Pence began by thanking House Speaker Paul Ryan for his brief introduction, before repeating his tagline that “I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican — in that order.” After cycling through a number of other conservative platitudes — praising his mother, his wife, and claiming that the most important job he’ll ever have is spelled “D-A-D” — he insisted that he and Trump will win because of the united party he sees before him, a party so united a senator’s wife reportedly had to be escorted off the premises by security:
Heidi Cruz was escorted out by security as the crowd got angry, per @mkraju.
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 21, 2016
As is the wont of most of the convention’s speakers to date, Pence opted to emphasize not who Donald Trump is and what he could accomplish, but to attack Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, attacking Obamacare and promising “common sense conservative leadership” of the sort he has displayed in Indiana. He did, however, praise Trump for “not tip-toeing around the thousand of new rules of political correctness” and being “the genuine article,” but it was praise without substance.
“Donald Trump has never turned his back on those that make this country grow,” he said, “and he’ll never turn his back on the men and women who protect us at home and abroad.” Pence also praised Trump’s “utter lack of pretense” and “intense respect for those who work for him.”
“When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America,” Pence added, “the change will ‘yuuuuuge,'” especially when it comes to who will be the next justices sitting on the Supreme Court.
Newt Gingrich delivers a parade of terrifying horribles to distract from Ted Cruz’s stunning diss of Trump at RNC
When Newt Gingrich appeared at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, he did so an hour and a half earlier than he had hoped, and after an unprecedented move by Ted Cruz that rocked Quicken Loans Arena in a shocking round of boos for the one-time Tea Party superstar.
The former speaker was already set to put on a brave face, scheduled to speak directly before the “safe” pick for vice president who won over Donald Trump’s gut, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. But after Cruz delivered a rousing speech to the hall of delegates without offering his endorsement of Trump, Gingrich was forced to also “Newtsplain,” as CNN’s Jake Tapper called it, away the epic diss that had just occurred.
“Ted Cruz said, ‘You can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution,’” Gingrich said, addressing the chaos that Eric Trump had ignored in the speech before. “In this election there is only one candidate who will support the Constitution.”
“So to paraphrase Ted Cruz,” Gingrich told the crowd, “if you want to protect the Constitution your only possible choice this fall is the Trump-Pence.”
“With no requirement for endorsement, [Trump] encouraged his competitors to speak once again,” he said, seemingly arguing that not having to resort to threats and coercion is a laudable feat. “Gov. Rick Perry, Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Scott Walker, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz have all responded to Donald comes generosity.”
Ginrich then quickly jumped into the most nightmarish vision of the global climate delivered at any point throughout an RNC full of the most insidious right-wing lies.
“We are at war,” Gingrich said in his usual, lecturing tone.
“We are at war with radical Islamists,” he explained, “and we are losing the war”
“They are determined to kill us.”
“The danger we face is much worse than the horrors that happened in Germany on New Year’s Eve, when twelve-hundred women were assaulted,” Gingrich said. “It’s worse than what’s happening in Israel, where average citizens fear for their lives whenever they leave their homes.The danger is even worse than September 11.”
“LION TED CRUZ”: Twitter reacts to Cruz’s dramatic RNC non-endorsement of Trump
Ted Cruz (Credit: Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein)
The big story of three of the Republican National Convention is Ted Cruz, who shocked conventioneers by declining to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in his keynote speech, instead telling Americans, “Vote your conscience.”
The pro-Trump convention crowd reacted swiftly and harshly as it realized that Cruz would leave the stage without issuing an endorsement:
The floor as Cruz ended his speech pic.twitter.com/0o9iMjvUDy
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 21, 2016
Here are the boos as Cruz refuses to endorse Trump: #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/RPo15m39S2
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) July 21, 2016
HEIDI CRUZ escorted out by security as crowd gets angry at Cruz for his speech. One Trump supporter shouting "Goldman Sachs!" at her
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 21, 2016
I haven't seen someone booed that bad in Cleveland since…well every QB to play for the Browns. #TedCruz #RNCinCLE
— Francis Maxwell (@francis_maxwell) July 21, 2016
Many observers immediately read Cruz’s public refusal to endorse Trump as a dramatic gambit positioning the Texas senator for another run at the presidency in 2020.
Cruz made the gamble that Trump is gonna lose big and what he did will look smart four years hence. And…of course, could be.
— Michael Tomasky (@mtomasky) July 21, 2016
If Cruz thought endorsing would have helped his 2020 chances, he would have endorsed. This was strategy. It always is.
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) July 21, 2016
It's blatantly obvious Cruz thinks Trump is going to lose, and is gearing up for 2020 #RNCinCLE
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) July 21, 2016
In 2020, Cruz will be the only one able to credibly claim he's the conscience of the party. Ryan, Rubio, etc. took the cowardly way out.
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) July 21, 2016
Some anti-Trump conservatives took a measure of satisfaction in Cruz’s effort to publicly embarrassment Trump, whom Cruz failed to overtake in a heated Republican primary race that devolved into insults and name-calling.
LION TED CRUZ.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 21, 2016
What an incredibly courageous and brilliant undermining of Trump. Good for Cruz's career, horrible for Trump.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 21, 2016
Trump gambled he could play Cruz after he viciously attacked Cruz's father and wife. He lost. Sorry Donny.
— Lucius (@LuciusCoverdale) July 21, 2016
Before Cruz’s speech hijacked the night’s proceedings, the RNC agenda often focused on criticism of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, with speeches from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and a recorded message from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio attacking the former Secretary of State. The raucous convention crowd responded with persistent chants of “Lock her up!”
The #RNCinCLE crowd chants "Lock her up!" for the second time this evening https://t.co/ecK0jyhTId
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) July 21, 2016
Undercard speakers earlier in the evening included Florida Gov. Rick Scott and talk radio host Laura Ingraham:
wait where are the other two
hippo @InternetHippo @msager pic.twitter.com/lV13zYZx5d
— darth™ (@darth) July 21, 2016
— Mashable News (@MashableNews) July 21, 2016
Laura Ingraham: No one respects veterans anymore! …She says as she endorses a man who mocked POWs #RNCinCLE
— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) July 21, 2016
Eric Trump delivers impersonal, if rousing, speech in the wake of Cruz non-endorsement bombshell
Eric Trump (Credit: Fox News)
The day after his brother gave a speech that many considered the most stirring of convention to date, and two days after his step-mother delivered one plagiarized from First Lady Michelle Obama, Eric Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention under unusual circumstances, to say the least — especially since he was following Ted Cruz’s remarkable non-endorsement speech.
Earlier on Wednesday, he told ABC News that he employed “zero” speechwriters, and that he “wrote every single word of my speech myself” — which would be more convincing has his step-mother not made similar claims before her speech.
He insisted, however, that he had “written from the heart, and [he] would certainly deliver from the heart,” and that “the product will be sincere and full of love, full of emotion, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.” Trump said his speech would focus on why his father had decided to run, and that he did — but boasting about how many primary votes his father received without mentioning Cruz’s speech did little to revive the atmosphere that the Texas senator has sucked from the room.
By the speech’s conclusion, he had successfully rallied the crowd to some extent, and under other circumstances, his list of reasons why his father was running and who he is running for would have been rousing — but he decision to barely acknowledge the bombshell that Cruz had dropped on the convention seemed wholly inadequate.
“Never have I been more proud to be a Trump,” he concluded to great, if forced, acclaim.
Ted Cruz refuses to endorse Trump: “Vote your conscience, for candidates you believe will be faithful to the Constitution”
Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during the third day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, (Credit: AP)
On Monday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s supporters attempted a coup, and on Tuesday they complained that the Republican National Committee’s rules forbid them from doing so successfully, so it stands to reason that on Wednesday the man they supported stepped onto the stage in Cleveland and pointedly refused to endorse his once-bitter rival, Donald Trump.
Cruz’s supporters are still not very pleased with the outcome of the primary, as evidenced by what happened when Trump’s plane landed near a rally at which the Texas senator was addressing them:
The crowd at a @tedcruz rally at the #RNCinCLE boos as @realDonaldTrump’s ✈️ lands nearby https://t.co/6hAkGVRw7u
— POLITICO (@politico) July 20, 2016
Earlier in the primary season, Cruz — or “Lyin’ Ted,” as Trump eventually came to refer to him — referred to Trump as a “narcissist,” a “pathological liar,” a “sniveling coward,” and a “philanderer,” but on Wednesday evening he insisted that he came to praise the GOP’s candidate, not bury or challenge him to another cage match. Trump, Cruz began by saying that he and his wife were “so happy to join you in Cleveland, where LeBron James just led his team to a great come-back victory.”
Only then did he congratulate Trump on winning the nomination Tuesday, but instead of saying that he hoped Trump would win in November, he merely said that he hoped “conservative principles would prevail.” Cruz asked the audience to indulge him momentarily, and allow him to speak about some of the victims of the recent shootings in Dallas, saying that they died protecting the very people who were protesting them.
After drawing an elaborate comparison between himself and one of the officers slain in Dallas, Cruz claimed that “America is a simple idea — ‘freedom matters.’ For much of human history, government has decreed and the people obey,” whereas in America, “we the people constrain government.” He further argued that “partisan rancor” has reached a fever pitch, and “we have to do better.”
Cruz ran through the litany of conservative complaints about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — Benghazi, ISIS, Iran — before claiming that the president is “a man who does everything backwards: he wants to close Guantanamo Bay and open the borders; export jobs and import terrorists; but enough is enough, and I am here to tell you there is a better vision of our future.”
That vision is not Trump’s, however, but “a return to freedom.” He claimed that this is a “fight for freedom,” and encouraged everyone in attendance to “vote their consecience” — not for the GOP candidate, even though the audience shouted “Endorse Trump!” and “We want Trump!” repeatedly.
He issued no such endorsement, merely imploring conservatives “not to stay home in November.”
Marco Rubio blasts Hillary Clinton — and mentions Trump once or twice without officially endorsing him
Marco Rubio (Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri)
Florida Senator Marco Rubio appeared via video at the Republican National Convention to do what would have seemed impossible four months ago — pledge his support to Donald Trump as the GOP presidential candidate.
The two engaged in a particularly vicious and juvenile series of spats during the primary, in which Rubio called Trump a small-handed “con artist” and intimated that his hands weren’t the only area of his anatomy that was inadequate. He also referred to Trump as “the most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency,” attacking him for both his proposal to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, as well as his proposed ban on Muslim immigration.
Rubio eventually capitulated to the inevitable, however, and vowed to stay true to the pledge all the candidates took in December to support the eventual GOP nominee, saying that “Trump will repeal Obamacare, Clinton won’t” and that he wanted “the successor to Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court to be a conservative. I believe that’s the kind of judge that he’ll appoint, and I know she won’t. I want someone that will defend life. I know he will and she won’t.”
On Wednesday, he expanded on that sentiment, saying that Clinton “planted the seeds of the disaster that we now know as Obamacare. She was an ultra-liberal senator, a reliable vote for crony capitalism, Wall Street bail-outs, and middle-class tax hikes.”
Moreover, he said, “she was a key figure in implementing Barack Obama’s shameful foreign policy record of appeasing our enemies and betraying our allies, and diminishing our role in the world. She turned her back on the fallen heroes in Benghazi,” Rubio added, “and then she lied about it to the American people.”
He claimed that she lacked both the honesty and courage to be president, whereas Trump “has committed to cut taxes, cut spending, and get our national debt under control.” Most importantly, Rubio said, Trump “has committed to appointing constitutionalist judges, who will respect the proper role of the judiciary.”
Rubio did not officially give Trump his endorsement, nor did he say, unequivocally, that he would be voting for the GOP candidate.
WATCH: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley gives Donald Trump a “tepid” semi-endorsement
(Credit: Reuters/Randall Hill)
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was asked by MSNBC whether she would officially endorse Donald Trump, to which she replied, “it’s great to be in Cleveland.”
The reporter followed up, asking whether “that was a no.”
Haley replied that she “would not be there if I did not want to make sure that Hillary would not be the next president.”
The reporter pressed again, asking if she “was going to vote for Donald Trump.”
“Of course,” she said, before turning away. The reporter characterized the endorsement as “tepid,” which was a generous characterization.
Watch the entire exchange below via MSNBC.
Governor Nikki Haley endorses Donald Trump… sort of#RNCinCLE https://t.co/kVgF5c4PBX
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) July 21, 2016
5 times Ted Cruz ineffectively trash-talked Donald Trump on the campaign trail
Ted Cruz, Donald Trump (Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer/Gene J. Puskar/Photo montage by Salon)
There’s no love lost between GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and silver medalist Senator Ted Cruz.
In an inadvertent power play, Trump’s private plane — a measly $100 million Boeing 757 — flew over Cruz’s convention-adjacent speech on Wednesday.
Cruz is among a star-spangled lineup of speakers at Wednesday night’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Allow us to remind you of five instances in which Lyin’ Ted ineffectively stumped the Trump on the campaign trail:
1. Trump is a “pathological liar”:
2. “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward. Leave Heidi the hell alone”:
3. “Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan”:
4. In which Cruz dry-heaves a reverse-birther theory and/or “yo mama” joke:
5. Cruz preemptively pitched presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s latest Trump attack ad:
Cruz: "America shouldn't have a president whose words would make you embarrassed if your children repeated them." pic.twitter.com/d3skvw5lQp
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 2, 2016
Conservatives are making a big show of applauding police at the Republican National Convention
CLEVELAND — It’s no secret that cops are everywhere at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Every street corner you turn around, every event you go to, every move you make is attended by dozens of stiff-faced men and women in uniform, exuding a mixture of boredom and authority. They’ve been flown in from around the country to provide security for the RNC, and the relative peacefulness of the proceedings is leaving them with very little to do.
Little, that is, except bask in the newfound — and temporary — status of rock stars they’ve been awarded by the conservative delegates at the RNC.
Everywhere you go in Cleveland this week, you get to enjoy the uncomfortable and newly minted ritual of RNC attendees offering effusive praise to police.
I first noticed it when walking around Sunday night with my colleagues, Ben Norton and Andrew O’Hehir. A line of po-po stood in menacing poses in front of the Phoenix Coffee Shop of beautiful downtown Cleveland, protecting the lattes against exactly no one. Some middle-aged white people rushed over to say, “Thank you for all you do.”
The overwhelming pressure to blubber gratefully in front of police for doing their jobs got to us, and we awkwardly offered our own, “Yeah, thanks, what they said” responses.
It’s not that we are some kind of lefty cop-hating villains. It was just so obnoxiously performative and political. These folks probably don’t thank their maids nearly as ecstatically.
Since then, it’s only gotten worse. The cops can barely walk down the street without being covered in hosannas and hero worship.
This particular tradition, now three days old and likely to only last as long as the convention, reached peak (for now) obnoxiousness in the “Freedom Plaza,” aka where they serve booze and fast food to convention-goers, on Wednesday evening.
I was trying to eat my bowl of mushroom-covered perogies when a group of state troopers marched by in formation.
You would have thought we were witnessing Beyoncé marching through with a troop of leotard-clad dancers in formation. The Republicans turned to the troopers, applauding so hard their arms nearly fell out of their sockets, letting everyone know they loved the police more than their clearly less patriotic neighbors.
The applause rang out for more than a full minute, giving the troopers the kind of standing ovation usually seen only with “Hamilton” audiences or the Oscar crowd after an accused child molester gets a lifetime achievement award.
The applause reads less as genuine appreciation for the efforts of law enforcement and more as a perverse middle finger thrown at Black Lives Matter protesters. Conservative media has spent months equating protests against police violence and unprovoked killings with opposition to police generally.
In that sense, this reaction isn’t really a tribute to the hard work of law enforcement, but a show of support for being able to kill unarmed people without consequence. The form may be one of gratitude, but the underlying meaning is rather more hateful than that.
