Stunning

I remember the thrill my 17-year-old self felt in the summer of 1982 when I watch STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN in Walla Walla's Liberty Theater, and thought, "They got it. They made a good Star Trek movie." Yes, they captured the deft blend between the profound and the cheesy, between solemnity and sillyness, between ideas and action, that defines the best of this decades-old franchise.

Twenty-seven years later, I felt much the same watching the new STAR TREK movie. With all the years being jaded by special effects and failed attempts at meaningful spectacle, and after multiple STAR TREK series turning the franchise into the equivalent of the chewing gum that had been chewed far too many times, I found great delight in being thrilled, touched, and entertained by a new summer movie -- and even better, a new Star Trek movie.

If you have the means, I heartily suggest seeing the movie in Imax, where it will run for just two weeks. Bigger can be better.

Shields Up

Well, we almost got a head start on the rest of the country in seeing the new STAR TREK movie. We had a pass for a Wednesday showing at The Bridge Cinemas. Unfortunately, so did just about everyone in the LA area who had ever heard of STAR TREK. Although I got there an hour before the screening time, a representative told us and lots of people in front of us that the theater was overbooked and full.

We then retired to the theater and bought advance tickets for a regular showing. Because we wanted to see it in Imax, the earliest showing that would not require us to press our noses against the screen was tomorrow.

So tomorrow afternoon we'll see the movie the rest of the country has seen and is raving about.