Star Trek

I'll admit it. I'm a lapsed Star Trek fan.

I was fairly devout at university - largely because I had a girlfriend who was that rarest of rarities - a 'hot' Trekkie. But as I left the world of academia, I found that 'Trekdom' failed to answer many of life's more complicated questions and went back to my original faith; 'Bondism.'

But Star Trek does kind of get under your skin - and I know that my swagger, elegant coif and pudgy midriff are all personality aspects adopted from the great prophet of Star Trek lore: Captain James T. Kirk.

One of the reasons I lost my faith in Star Trek was because the entire franchise had been driven mercilessly into the ground.

It went from inspired - like the brilliant Star Trek: The Next Generation series and rip-roaring movies like The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country - to tepid trash like Star Trek: Enterprise and the jumbled jigsaw that was Star Trek: Nemesis.

In many ways, we imagined what the franchise needed was to 'go away' for a little while, until we all forgot its indiscretions (like the final episode of 'Enterprise,' which implied that the entire show was the holodeck fantasy of 'Next Generation' character Commander Riker.)

But instead, legendary producer J.J. Abrams grabbed the Klingon Targ by the horns and decided to make a new movie which took the entire franchise right back to the beginning - distilling six series and ten movies down to the purest, most essential elements that made 'Trek' work.

And, by George, I think he 'got' it!

Star Trek is a bright new vision, boldly going where no producer has gone before in 'rebooting' the entire franchise (much as they did with Batman and Bond, in Batman Begins and Casino Royale.)


The characters we know and love have been recast, the USS Enterprise has been tarted up for the 'Apple Mac' generation and the vigorously protected 'canon' of Star Trek history has been cast aside in favor of plots and concepts bristling with new narrative intensity.


Unsurprisingly, the essential elements of the storyline remain the same - being as they are the adventures of Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock. This movie reveals their first antagonistic encounter, on board the flagship USS Enterprise under it's original commander, Christopher Pike.


Facing off against a vicious enemy from the future, Spock and Kirk are forced to work together to save humanity - with Kirk taking command of the Enterprise and learning to collaborate with his first officer despite their sharply contrasting styles of command.


It's all fast-paced, with big-screen space battles and CGI monsters and everything you'd expect from a summer blockbuster. This makes the story is totally accessible, even if you've never seen an episode of Star Trek before - however, fans are serviced admirably with plenty of tidbits and Easter eggs thrown in to satisfy their obsessive lust for minutia.


And, somewhat cleverly, J. J. Abrams tied a complex plot-twist to the story of Star Trek, in which the established 'future' gets changed by meddling time-travelers (including Leonard Nimoy, in a cameo as 'old Spock.')


This neatly wipes the slate clean and frees the film (and any possible sequels) from being forced to stick to decades of pre-established continuity that's rigorously enforced by the legions of 'Trekkies' across the globe.

What works especially well is how they've kept certain aspects of the original series - like the Enterprise itself. Although the old girl's been tarted up to cinematic standards, everything about her (even down to the noise she makes when you open a communication channel) is close enough to the original TV show to be comparable.

Likewise, the costumes, phasers, tricorders and transporters are all similar to the 60s-era props, merely 'retconned' so they actually look like viable pieces of essential equipment.

All in all, the formula comes together fantastically. Star Trek is space opera at its finest and whatever your preconceptions about the original 'Trek,' you're unlikely to leave the cinema unsatisfied with this re-imagining.

Bottle Shock

We may have moved beyond the days of ‘freedom fries’ and boycotting Beaujolais, but as far as America’s concerned, it’s still open season on the French.

That’s definitely one of the motivations behind Bottle Shock, a comedy-drama that debuted last year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Starring Bill Pullman, Alan Rickman and (soon-to-be Captain Kirk) Chris Pine, it tells the story of the infamous ’76 ‘Judgment of Paris,’ a blind wine-tasting in which California wines beat out home-grown Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bottle Shock is a sumptuous movie, filmed on location in the bright and beautiful Napa Valley of California. Encompassing blue skies and postcard-perfect vineyard vistas, the entire film plays like a commercial for the California Tourism Commission.

But there’s also a stonking good story to be enjoyed here.

Bottle Shock kicks off with snobbish British expatriate Steven Spurrier, played by a stuffy Alan Rickman, travelling from Paris to California to locate wines worthy of the upcoming competition.

Spurrier’s uptight mannerisms highlight the perceived differences between the French and American wine industries. French vintners are portrayed as stuffy and snobbish, peering down their noses at what they think are the ‘cowboys’ out in California.

When Spurrier arrives in America, he initially buys into this stereotype. After all, in playing the leading winemakers in the region, actors Pullman, Pine and Ugly Betty star Freddy Rodriguez are all portrayed as hicks in flannel shirts and jeans.

But the cowboy hats and rusty pick-up trucks are misleading props. Simon Spurrier soon discovers that these California ‘cowboys’ have compensated for their lack of wine-making experience by exploring daring new trends and technologies – producing wine with almost surgical precision.

In fact, it’s this ‘precise’ wine that gives this story it’s most stirring moment of drama – as Bill Pullman’s character, based on the real-life winemaker Jim Barrett, sends hundreds of bottles of discolored Chardonnay off to the landfill, unaware that the brown ‘taint’ is a temporary result of his near-perfect bottling process.

Don’t worry – things get sorted out in the end. Jim Barrett’s floundering vineyard finally gets the validation it deserves at the ’76 Paris Wine Tasting.

Although certain aspects seem overplayed – the moral of the story appears to be: ‘Dammit, we Americans make wine every bit as good as those damn Frenchies!’ - the script zings, the acting’s pitch-perfect and the story is wonderfully uplifting.

This leave Bottle Shock as an immensely satisfying movie experience (and, like many things in life, one that’s best enjoyed with a nice glass of wine.)

Bottle Shock is available in North America from Amazon.com, priced $19.99