All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
movies

Star Trek Celebration: My thoughts on each Star Trek film so far!!!

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In celebration of JJ Abrams “Star Trek” finally being released this Friday, I figure I would do a brief review of each 10 “Star Trek” films below with scoring, 1-4 stars from bad to excellent.

I don’t enjoy every “Star Trek” film although I’m a die hard Trekkie, there is one I didn’t like, find out what it is below:

Star Trek – The Motion Picture (Score = **, 2 stars as in “ok”)

This was an ok movie, it had a good storyline, good acting, good special effects, the only thing I didn’t like about it, was it dragged on too slow and too long. The pacing of this film is too slow especially the long ending, where Spock gets in this astrunaut like spacesuit, to try and find something called, V’ger which means Voyager 6, a long lost space probe. It would have been a decent Star Trek movie if this one was a little shorter, but I thought this was an ok film, could use more improvements.

Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan (Score = **** 4 stars as in “Excellent”)

After “Star Trek” debuted to the big screen, the sequel returns with Khan coming back as the villain. A major improvement. This turned into an essential classic and it’s one of Star Trek’s most talked about films ever. Khan is a brutal villain and it has a sad ending with Spock dying and all. This is still my favorite “Star Trek” movie ever made.

Star Trek III – the Search for Spock – (Score = ***, 3 stars as in “good”)

This was a pretty good one. I heard something about that Paramount were going to kill Spock off for good in the “Star Trek” films but due to a public outrage of Star Trek fans being angry at Spock being dead, they had no choice but to bring him back. This movie was directed by Leonard Nimoy himself. In this one, the crew battles Klingons which Christopher Lloyd plays the main Klingon villain in this. This film is nothing amazing, nothing mind blowing, but an entertaining “Star Trek” film. I liked it.

Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home (Score = ****, 4 stars as in “Excellent”)

The movie is set in our present time where the Star Trek crew goes back to save humpback whales in order for them to go back to the 20th Century in their time. I think this is another classic Star Trek film, and another favorite of mine. Lots of memorable scenes in this flick and there’s more comedy and humor in this one as well.

Star Trek V – The Final Frontier (Score = ***, 3 stars as in “good”)

This is the one where Spock finds his half brother. This is said to be one of Star Trek’s most hated films, but I liked it.

Star Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country (Score = ****, 4 stars as  in “excellent”)

This is the one where Captain Kirk vows revenge on the Klingons who murdered his son from “Star Trek II”. Other than revenge, the Federation goes to war against the Klingons so they can live in peace. A great “Star Trek” film, lots of action and a good storyline. Great acting by William Shatner in this one too. This is the final Star Trek movie with the original cast.

Star Trek “Generations” – (Score = ****, 4 stars as in “excellent”)

The first Star Trek movie with the “Next Generation” cast. Of course, William Shatner had to return in this one to team up with Captain Picard. Malcolm McDowell also plays the main villain, Dr. Soran. This film has a really good plot, really good action scenes, just a great “Star Trek” film. I remember seeing this movie at least a couple of times in theater.

Star Trek “First Contact” = (Score = ****, 4 stars as in “excellent”)

Another favorite Star Trek movie of mine, where the Federation battles against the Borg. This is where they meet the Borg queen again.

Star Trek “Insurrection” = (Score = *, 1 star as in “poor”)

I would say that this is one of the bad Star Trek films. It didn’t even feel like a Star Trek movie, instead it felt like a two hour Star Trek TV episode.

Star Trek “Nemesis” = (Score = ***, 3 stars as in “good”)

This is the final “Star Trek” movie with the Next Generation cast. Good film, but could use improvements. Many people didn’t like it, but I thought this was a pretty good one. Praetor Shinzon was a great villain, I thought, but that character only got very little screen time which is dissapointing. We could do without the Commander Riker and Deanna Troi romance in this flick, but the rest of it’s fine. Other than that, this movie has good action, it was entertaining.

I’m looking forward to seeing JJ’s “Star Trek” this weekend and will review that one too. Hopefully I’ll like it.

Kev

music

Report: Ali Campbell explains the real reason why he left UB40, bashes bandmates…

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Last year, the former frontman/guitarist for the famous reggae/rock band, UB40 explains the real reason why he left the band. Last year, there was a lot of controversy sparking the web that Ali Campbell left the band ’cause he wanted to start a solo career, he thought he had a good long run in UB40, he always liked playing with them and he just wanted to move on.

Now, he speaks to the Sun and admitted the real reason why he left the band was that he felt he was disgusted the band had to continue. Ali says he will never rejoin them ever again.

More on it here:

http://www.nme.com/news/ub40/44422

I agree with Ali, that they should have never continued to play music to this day. Back in the 80’s, early 90’s, they were very mainstream and popular, today no one knows who UB40 is anymore. They are no longer a hit mainstream band like they once were.

I really enjoyed UB40 back in those days though.

Kev

movies

“Star Trek” Hollywood premiere photos here…

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Just found Star Trek “Hollywood” premiere photos. The entire cast was there in person, even the film crew.

The only cast from the past “Star Trek” movies were there were George Takei, Rod Roddenberry, Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) were also there. That was it.

William Shatner and Patrick Stewart were no where to be seen and you figure they would be there? Huh.

Jonathan Frakes is looking great though, it’s nice to finally see him out of hiding after all these years. Look like Commander Riker and Counselor Troi are dating each other in real life, look at the picture of them below, holding hands as if they are a couple.

That’s cool, they all got to watch the “Star Trek” movie outside. I would have loved to been there myself. I’ll never forget the day I visited, “The Star Trek Exhibition” museum in San Diego. That was great.

http://trekmovie.com/2009/05/01/photos-video-from-hollywood-premiere/

Kev

Btw, Zoe Saldana is looking fuckin’ hot…woah…dayam….I think she caught my attention….

TV

Hopefully the cancellation of “My Name Is Earl” will bring Jason Lee back to the big screen full time!!!

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I used to love the show, “My Name Is Earl” but I haven’t watched it in a long while. I guess, I quickly lost interest when the show first started. Jason Lee is a really good big screen actor. Before “Earl”, Jason starred in many Kevin Smith films and plenty of other big screen pictures as well.

If “My Name Is Earl” is indeed cancelled, I hope Jason Lee decides to back to acting in film full time. His last Hollywood movie was “Alvin and the Chipmunks” live action back in 2007, and he is set to star in the sequel pretty soon. I’m sure he will get right to work on “The Chipmunks” sequel once “Earl’ cancels for good.

The question you’ll have to ask is will Jason go back to film, full time? Here’s hoping. Something is telling me that NBC will try to get Jason Lee another TV show since he made “Earl” a successful hit. “Earl” is now such a well known TV character, and NBC will probably try to create a new character for him for a new show. NBC will probably offer him a big deal to stay with the network.

I think he is a really good film actor and it would be a shame if he decides to work TV shows instead of movies. We’ll have to wait and find out to see what his decision is. I’m sure he’ll tell all of us soon.

Kev

music

Cool Video: I dig the new Eminem song “3am”, it’s surprisingly awesome!

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I’m not into rap music much, only very little. I only enjoy a few rap artists and Eminem is one I always admired. He put out a new song called, “3 am” with his new video being a horror movie. This song blew me away. It’s actually a very tight and very good rap song. I usually don’t say stuff like that about rap music, but this song is incredible. I’m probably going to pick up his new album.

Check it out here, the song smokes, it’s great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VETuUlC3JOE

Great work, Marshall. You’re improving!

Kev

music

Having a huge ego in music isn’t really a bad thing after all, you just have to learn to deal with it!!!

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So you’ve been reading my blogs about complaining about egos in music in the past. Then you see me all of a sudden say that having a huge ego in music isn’t a bad thing and that it’s good promotion for your music and all. You see me do a flip flop on egostitical musicians, one day I don’t like them and the next you see me, saying they aren’t really that bad. I’ll tell you why musicians having egos isn’t a bad thing. Whether you’re a famous musician or locally unsigned, either way.

The thing about egos is, pretty much all musicians have some sort of ego. I’ll admit that I have a huge ego at times as well. Pretty much every musician out there that plays an instrument in a band or acoustic solo they have a huge ego. Why?

Because all they care about is trying to get the public to care for them. These musicians crave the attention they are getting. All musicians have crazy delusions too. We all have ’em. Famous or locally either way.

If we didn’t have egos, we wouldn’t be out there playing gigs and getting our names out there. I find it hilarious when unsigned bands go looking for musicians in their wanted ads, they all post, “no egos”. Why? Can’t deal with other musicians saying that they are a better player than you? They claim that is not the case when looking for other musicians, but I know that is the truth.

The thing about musicians having crazy delusions, we think we go out there to play small bars and clubs, actually thinking that the fans come to support the bands and enjoy our stuff, when the reality is, they don’t come to support you, they probably just came for a few drinks and enjoy good company with friends, not caring about the bands that play there. Ever wonder why your band only get a few cheers out of the crowd that go to your band show?

Every musician has an ego and delusion problem. You gotta learn to get used to it, deal with it like I’ve been doing. These kind of people used to bother me as I used to say that I want far away from these whackos as possible, but I am learning that when you get yourself into the music business, you have to have balls to deal with these things.

If you’re a solo musician or play in a band, if you act you’re some sort of celebrity by having a profesional official website, myspace, photos, acting like you’re bigger than your fans, etc. Then it’s good enough proof that all bands and musicians have ego problems if you’re so obsessed of trying to promote yourself to death out there.

This is not really a local music post, this is a post for all music in general. I am just beggining to realize that there is nothing wrong with having a huge ego problem. That’s the name of the game with musicians. Having an ego helps make you successful, think about it.

Kev

movies

Thought: True horror films finally made it’s return? “Quarantine” and “The Strangers” are two of the most scariest horror films in a long time!!

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Horror films are supposed to be real scary. Not to be entertaining popcorn flicks like your typical teen slasher films. Those teen slasher films like “Scream”, “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, etc…are not scary at all in my opinion, they are just here for popcorn entertainment, so in reality, I don’t really call those films true horror films.

True horror films that are real scary are films like: “The Omen”, “The Exorcist”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Amityville Horror”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, “Psycho”, etc. Films that are supposed to scare the shit out of you and not being able to sleep at night after watching the films.

True horror films are starting to make a comeback. With films like “Quarantine” and “The Strangers”, I think those two films are the most creepiest films I’ve seen in many years.

“Quarantine” is a zombie film, yes, but it’s a zombie film that it almost seems real, a film that almost seems like real life. That’s what makes that film so scary. Not only that, I think the ending to that film is the most scariest ever.

I don’t want to spoil the ending but I’ll talk about little bits of it, the leading woman that plays in the movie, finds this room to try to escape the place. It is dark, and the video camera has a night vision light on where they can see in the dark, which makes the screen turns green as a night vision kind of thing.

The woman and camera man are both in the room alone hiding ’cause there’s one zombie walking around trying to find ’em. The woman is trying to cover her mouth so she tries not to scream, so the zombie wouldn’t hear her. There is no music playing in this scene. Just complete silence in that scene as the zombie is walking around trying to hunt them down. Of course, the trailer of the “Quarantine” film kind of gave away the ending, which I hate it when trailers do that, but you get the idea.

“The Strangers”, is another great horror film that I absolutely loved, it stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. About a young couple staying at a friends cabin for a vacation trip, the guy proposes marriage to his longtime girlfriend, but she says “no” to his marriage proposal, of course he is upset the rest of the night and stays up all night, then he goes out for a drive to spend some time alone by himself. While Liv Tyler’s character is home alone, she is attacked by three people wearing strange masks, and she must escape out of the house alive.

“The Strangers” say it’s based on real events, but I’m not finding anything in google about it. Then in the wikipedia information it says that the story was inspired by the director/writers real life experience of being home alone and being attacked by strange people.

“Quarantine” and “The Strangers” are both really good flicks. I’d suggest you to check those films out.

Kev

music

Report: Amy Winehouse hospitalized…again…I lost count…

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Pop star Amy Winehouse is hospitalized again due to dehydration and collapsing.

TMZ reports:

http://www.tmz.com/2009/05/02/winehouse-goes-to-hospital-surprises-nobody/

This is a pop star that I used to love and admire, but I just don’t care anymore. A deathbed and a gravestone is on her way this year, if she don’t get help soon. Everyone wants her to go back into the studio to record a new album with brand new songs but it’s never going to happen if she doesn’t cut it out. I am feeling that “Back to Black” will be her final and last album ever.

Kev

movies

BREAKING NEWS: J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof to work on Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” after completing “Lost” TV series!!!

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“Star Trek’s” JJ Abrams drops the huge bomb that he reveals that he scored the rights to Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series to make them into theaterical films. JJ and his partner Damon Lindelof, said they will not work on “Dark Tower” until they finish the “Lost” hit TV series. No word if JJ Abrams himself will direct the first “Dark Tower” movie, for now they just announced they are moving forward with the film.

JJ said if the first “Dark Tower” film is a successful hit, then they will make the rest of the “Dark Tower” books into live action films as well.

MTV Movies Blog reports:

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/05/01/jj-abrams-damon-lindelof-will-work-on-dark-tower-after-lost-is-over/

This is really good news. I’m happy that there is finally news of a “Dark Tower” movie finally happening. I think the director should be no one other than JJ.

I also still stand by that I think they should get Hugh Jackman to play Roland Deschain the Gunslinger. I think Jackman is a perfect fit for that character. It would be insane if JJ doesn’t get him.

Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if JJ got Chris Pine or Zachary Quinto to play him instead.

Kev