Watched: Star Trek Into Darkness

Visually pretty great, storytelling wise kind of a disappointing retread considering all the maneuvering the Stark Trek 2009 reboot does to establish that this is an alternate Star Trek universe. It seemed like that would give the creators the freedom to tell their own stories and yet they reuse the name/character of (spoilers) Khan? Boo. Also calm down with the Dutch angles, guys!

I will say this about the Star Trek movies, they have some of my favorite movie alien makeup of sci-fi films from the last 10 years. Just so striking.

Oh, a dramatic haircut and stylish winterwear plus a super-genius Machiavelli type? This should be a stretch for Cumberbatch! 

  

IT'S A TWIST DO YOU GET IT

Watched: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

This movie... did not age well.

  

  

Watched: The Bourne Identity

A fresh premise that would quickly grow stale when every ensuing spy flick/thriller would try to replicate its grit and pace, often with less success.

Chris Cooper and Brian Cox are always a win though.

Beginning the tradition of the spies in the Bourne series being really, really good-looking.

Julia Stiles. I'm sure she won't show up again!

Hey Walter Goggins!

  

Watched: The Bourne Supremacy

The second worst Bourne. These movies are really good, especially for hangovers or background noise, because for some reason when I try to sit down and flat-out watch them I find them a bit dry. Also trying to get a screenshot of the Greengrass-directed films is a nightmare, dude is incapable of filming a non-shaky scene.

  

Karl Urban, continuing the hot spy-guy Bourne tradition.

Watched: The Bourne Ultimatum

Although this one is entertaining enough a lot of the story feels like retreads of its predecessors. I know part of this is intentional (Bourne once again besting a foe in a hand-to-hand fight with a book, the repeated conversation with Joan Allen, once again going on the run with a sympathetic lady, etc.) but it ends up being a little bit boring. Also having Brian Cox and Albert Finney playing different characters in the same film universe is just cruel. They are bizarrely interchangeable for two actors who are so talented and have distinctly different careers. It's bizarre and shouldn't be as confusing as it is but seriously they look too alike. Also this film continues the proud Bourne film tradition of having the other Treadstone spy-guys being devastatingly attractive actors whose careers are about to blow up.

Daniel Bruhl! He gets about 1.5 minutes of screen-time which seems criminal to me.

David Straitharn is a competent bad guy but I still liked Cooper's ambiguous bad-guyness verses Cooper's flat-out bad guy bad-guyness.

Édgar Ramírez, sigh.

The Bourne Flashback.

British actor Joey Ansah. 

  

ALBERT FINNEY WHY YOU LOOK SO MUCH LIKE BRIAN COX