Movie Madness: Star Trek (2009)

Hello. My name is the Eternal Optimist, and I am a geek.

"Hi Eternal Optimist"

Okay, now that that's out of the way. I loved the new Star Trek movie. Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved it. But why did I love it? I suppose that's what you're here to hear!

First, the story. Time travel plots are old hat for Star Trek, but this one manages to use time travel for an interesting twist. The time travel involved literally insures that a new universe has been created for J.J. Abrams to play around in without worrying about contradicting future canon. And given that this movie takes place at the beginning of James T. Kirks illustrious career, that was a singularly smart move. Aside from this game changing move, it's a simple origin story combined with a thrilling adventure as the Federation is threatened by an angry Romulan from the future named Nero, who is willing to stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on the past.

The cast seems to revel in their roles with natural accolades going to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as launchers-of-a-thousand-fanfics Kirk and Spock. Pine manages to nail that balance between cocky adventure and knowledge of Kirk, while Quinto straddles the balance between Spock's human and Vulcan natures. The rest of the supporting cast is equally as good, although Zoe Saldana occasionally feels a little wasted as Uhura. Perhaps she'll get more development in the sequel.

The special effects and design are a delight, and best of all, the new design of the Enterprise seems to borrow from both the Original Series design as well as bits of the redesign from the motion pictures. Further, the Romulan mining ship seems to be something out of nightmares, especially as it exits the singularity in the opening moments of the film.

And of course, what would Star Trek be without music? Michael Giachinno's score would not feel out of place in a classic Trek film. It combines the adventures feeling of space travel with subtler emotional moments. Special mention goes to the main theme of the film, a mysterious melody in semi-minor key that pops up multiple times throughout the film. Oh, and Giachinno brings out the original show theme for the credits and makes it absolutely gorgeous.

In short, it's a brilliant throwback to the old series, while still bring a little bit of modern sensibility to it. A perfect movie? No. A great move? Yes, at least in my opinion.

Till next time, to all you out there in the great sea of the internet, I'm the Eternal Optimist.

Happy Thoughts!

Stage Shenanigans: Violet

Hello all! For this week, we'll be looking at a stage show I was privy to recently, the Hendrix College Players production of the musical Violet by Jeanin Tesori and Brian Crawley. Let's dive right in, shall we?

PLOT AND MUSIC:

Violet concerns a young woman, the titular Violet, who was horribly disfigured in an accident during her childhood years. This accident has left her with a scar that runs from her nose across her left cheek. In order to free herself of this social stigma, she ventures cross-country in a greyhound bus in the summer of 1967 to find a famous faith healer who she believes will be able to free her from her ugliness. Along the way, she makes friends with two young men who are in the military. One, Flick, is an officer but African-American, and relates to being judged based upon appearances. The other, Monty, is a smooth talking womanizing type who is friends with Flick. A romance springs up between the two boys and Violet, while Violet is forced to re-examine her idealistic view of the world.

The plot, as it stands, moves along quite briskly, and the musical numbers tend to flow organically from the book. The romantic subplot was a tad abrupt, but much less more so than some big broadway shows. In addition, the themes of acceptance and faith are dealt with in a way that is both mature, and not at all overly simple. Certainly, it ends on an uplifting note, but it's an earned happy ending.

The music is energetic, catchy and surprisingly complex jumping from traditional ballads, to gospel, to country and then back again. Of special note is the first number aboard the bus "On My Way" which seems to be the most popular song from the musical.

CAST:

The cast is energetic, if not always the pleasantest of singers. The young woman playing Violet acts the part well, although her voice is definitely stronger in her lighter head register than in her chest voice. Young Violet has a stronger voice, and joyously plays up her youthful exuberance. Flick possibly has one of the weaker voices of the three central characters, but ably balances the humor and angst of his own personal character arc. Monty has the strongest singing voice, but his southern accent fades in and out at times, and nearly disappears when singing, but he is able to give the vulgar playboy a softer side that comes out occasionally. Violet's father, appearing in flashbacks is wonderfully cast, with a gorgeous baritone voice and an alternatingly crotchety and tender demeanor. Highlights among the ensemble include a talkative busybody Violet meets on the bus, and an outrageously hammy faith healer who steals the show.

PRODUCTION DESIGN:

The costumes are nothing special to mention. Serviceable and well informed 60's style fashion. The set is beautifully decked out in wooden platforms and wall hangings which convey a down home country feeling, while the lights are used at times to bathe the set in color for mystical effect. A revolving turntable is used to switch between the simple bus set, several chairs arranged in line, and a multitude of other places suggested by a bed, a hanging sheet.

FINAL WORD:

A competent and very fun production, aside from some issues with singing, it is obvious that these performers put a lot of energy into this production. A definite A + effort!

To all you out there in the sea of the internet, I'm the Eternal Optimist!

Happy Thoughts!

Movie Madness: Howard the Duck

Hello! I'm the Eternal Optimist!

Today, I'd like to talk to you about ducks. The history of cinema is full of the creatures. Especially anthropomorphic ones. Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck. For years, they've made us laugh with their funny voices and gruff demeanors. And then, on the heels of the success of Star Wars, George Lucas helped bring to the big screen one of the more... divisive ducks of the decade of punk.

Howard the Duck!

Is this madness? No, it's the 80's

So...what's the plot?

The titular Howard T. Duck (performed by Ed Gale, voice of Chip Zien), native of Duckworld, is pulled across the universe by an unknown force and dumped into the life of Beverly, nascent punk rock chick and songwriter. As it happens both of their lives are falling apart, for largely different reasons. Beverly's career is going nowhere, and Howard had a major change of address forced on him. Together they team up with Phil (Tim Robbins) to try and figure out how to return Howard to his home planet. Then an extradimensional evil force gets involved, and it's a race against time to save the world.

Truly, the plot is nothing that hasn't been done to death a thousand time before. What Howard the Duck has going for it is a wonderful, if somewhat esoteric sense of humor. Perhaps most importantly, and the biggest stumbling block for enjoyment, is the plethora of duck related puns. If bad puns are not your taste, then you will find yourself hating this movie within the first ten minutes. Likewise, Howard's constant wise-cracks can grate on those who don't have a taste for zingers and sitcom style one-liners. Luckily, there are two pieces of humor that never fail to deliver.

Each character plays the scenes in a deliciously straight, yet hammy way. Outside of the odd wisecrack, there are very few "*wink* *wink* look how clever we are" moments. It's this tendency to play everything straight in an over-the-top manner that allows the movie to get away with some incredibly ridiculous situations.

Finally we have the Dark Overlord, our villain and the single best part of the movie. He only shows up at the halfway point possessing a friendly scientist named Dr. Jennings (Jeffrey Jones), but once he shows up the movie shifts from slow moving mystery melodrama, into a fast paced sci-fi comedy. Jeffrey Jones chews scenery with aplomb as the Dark Overlord, becoming more and more unhinged as he continues his monstrous transformation.

How about those special effects?

As a George Lucas production, the special effects are done by Industrial Light and Magic, and are generally very good, considering the time period. Energy effects, monster make-up, even a mystical (if scientifically inaccurate) starscape are delivered with a combination of practical effects, computer generated effects, and beautiful matte paintings.

There are, unfortunately, two major effects that fall somewhat short and date the movie. First, the lesser of two evils. In the final confrontation, the true form of the Dark Overlord is rendered with stop motion and blue screen. Good for the time period? Yes. Cheesy and dated by today's standards? Double yes. However, this can be forgiven.

Howard, on the other hand, fares a little worse. Characterized by a combination of puppetry and little people in suits. His facial expressions are just a little off. In terms of uncanny valley, he sits right there at the point where it starts to get a little unsettling. Luckily, close-up face shots are rare, and Chip Zien's vocal performance is full enough of personality to off-set the lack of emoting available for the Howard costume.

And the music?

There are two kinds of music in Howard the Duck. The background music, which switches between low grade orchestral bombast and smooth, slightly jazzy moments. These are serviceable, although the romantic theme is surprisingly quiet and beautiful.

Then you have the songs written specifically for Beverly's in movie band, Cherry Bomb, to sing. They represent the most typical of typical 80's songs from a slow ballad with a slow driving drumbeat, to hyperkinetic synth and guitar anthems. If you have an allergic reaction to 80's pop, or the rest of the movie just doesn't appeal to you, stay away.

Final Verdict:

Howard the Duck is completely and utterly not a movie for everyone. It is incredibly cheesy, the plot sometimes doesn't make sense, and the special effects fail in some small but very crucial areas. However, it does have a certain B-movie charm to it, and a lot can be said for how it plays the cheesiness for as little post modern "irony" as possible. If you like a little bit of ham and cheese, take a chance on it. If smart movies are more your thing, stay far away for sanity's sake.

And now the title song, in all it's 80's synth pop glory

To all you out there in the wild sea of the internet, I'm the Eternal Optimist.

Happy thoughts!

Gaming Gallery: Sands of Destruction

Hello! I’m the Eternal Optimist!

For today we're looking at Sands of Destruction, a relatively little known JRPG developed for the Nintendo DS by imageepoch and published by Sega. More than anything else, it feels like a game of unrealized potential. Like a chocolate cake made out of low-fat chocolate. It's good, yeah, and a light experience, but there's just this depth of flavor that is missing.

Story:

The world of Sands of Destruction is one in which powerful human like animals called Ferals rule the land and treat humans like second class citizens. Our hero in this tale is Kyrie, shounen hero Archetype A: the cowardly dimwit who learns to be badass. Within his body he holds a mysterious power that can turn everything in a huge radius into sand. He is later forcibly recruited by our heroine, Morte, to help her in her quest to destroy the entire world. Morte being the first non-NPC female Kyrie meets, he automatically falls in love with the sociopathic wonder girl. Together with a few other party members, including a martial arts practicing teddy bear, they go on a long sprawling journey, discover truths, withstand betrayals, and eventually face off against a force beyond understanding.

Obviously, very typical stuff. What it has going for it is an occasional good bit of dark humor, mainly thanks to Morte. The girl really, really loves killing. To the point where it stops being frightening and starts being hilarious. Unfortunately, the game seems more fond of the odd bit of very silly slapstick style humor, and tends to fall back on it more than the more subtle dark stuff. This results in some terrible whiplash in a few places. Most notable is a scene in which Morte, in a rare serious moment, takes her time slowly killing a recurring foe. Two seconds later, silly music starts up, and a few rather forced jokes are traded.

This can probably be traced back to a bit of meddling by the producers. The scenario writer, who had previously worked on the acclaimed Xenogears, had wanted a much darker story, which would have involved Ferals using humans for food instead of just slave labor. The producers wanted something they could market to a younger audience. Out went the darker tone, and in came silly, forced humor. This ends up giving the entire game a terribly uneven tone, and it never feels quite as epic as it should.

One final nitpick. The closest thing we get to a main antagonist gets a tragically short time in the spotlight, and basically gives the player an infodump on his motives right at the eleventh hour. Hidden antagonists are good, but it helps if they are hidden in plain sight.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in Sands of Destruction is, like the story, full of good ideas that were somewhat poorly implemented. Combat is turn based, but the amount of actions each combatant is allowed are dictated by a point system. Each attack or spell takes one point, and using items immediately ends that characters turn. Points are gained by chaining together combos and critical hits, and when enough extra points have been gained, a limit break style attack becomes available. Physical attacks are divided into Blows and Flurries. Flurries are weak, multi-strike attacks that have high accuracy. Blows are single powerful strikes that have low accuracy.

Obviously, there’s the idea here that Blows and Flurries must be mixed together in combos depending on the enemy at hand. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Characters gain customization points from battles, and these are used to upgrade attacks. After a certain level is gained, attacks can be fortified and chained together. Chained flurries break the game in half. With chained flurries, the faster characters get to use their limit break style attacks every time they have a turn, and most battles turn into your characters chaining flurries until the enemies die.

If a player chooses not to chain flurries, however, they must deal with the enemy AI abusing the system, especially as the enemy attackers seem to get far more critical hits on average, so the game turns into a masochist’s joy. In short, the way the battle system is structured, the game will either be far too hard, or far too easy.

Graphics:

Graphics are one of this game’s strong points. Characters are detailed two-dimensional sprites walking on rather gorgeous 3D surroundings. In battle animations are fluid and detailed, and the super attacks are accompanied by a quick portrait of the character, along with some glorious visual pyrotechnics. Especially beautiful is the first part of the climactic dungeon, which incorporates some truly psychedelic vistas into its construction. There are a couple of brief cgi FMV’s throughout, including at the beginning, and once again, they truly push the DS to it’s fullest potential.

Sound, Voice Acting and Music:

There is nothing too special about the sound effects used. They serve the purpose well, and are neither annoying or distracting. Voice acting, on the other hand, is an occasional mixed bag. Kyrie’s voice, especially when flustered, is incredibly nasal and annoying, but he thankfully loses that a bit as his character develops. Morte and the rest of the characters are mostly mediocre and inoffensive, although Morte’s actress does get to ham it up occasionally. If somewhat mediocre voice-over work offends you, turn down the voices, but don’t turn off the music.

Music is undoubtedly the strongest point of the entire game. The trio of composers, headed by the legendary Yasunori Mitsueda(best known for Chrono Trigger, among others), spins out a series of memorable tunes ranging from tearjearking, to comic, to epic. Of special note is Time’s Arm, the main theme, a beautiful recurring melody that is first heard on the title screen performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic and an angelic choir. The battle themes do their work as well, although there is a bit too much reliance on the normal battle theme in many early boss battles.

Final Verdict:

I bought Sands of Destruction at the Nintendo World store in New York. I played through the entire game, sidequests and all. And then I traded the game in to Gamespot to help pay for KH: Birth by Sleep. Sands of Destruction is a good game, and that would be fine if it were not for the hints of a greater game that could’ve been lurking around every corner. The story and battle system contain good ideas that were just not implemented as well as possible, and the graphics and music are wonderful. If you get a chance, and have a few days to play through it, give it a rent. Or not, I’m not partial.

To all you out there in the wide sea of the internet, I’m the Eternal Optimist.

Happy thoughts!

Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to The Eternal Optimist where I review video games, music, movies, books, and theater, and try to be as nice as possible. It will not always work. In fact, on occasions I'm sure I'll have to break out the heavy handed criticism. But, in the spirit of optimism, I'll always find something good in whatever I review.

Even if it kills me.

Later today I'll post our first review, a look back on a little known Nintendo DS jrpg known in the West as Sands of Destruction.

Happy thoughts everyone!