Reviews

Some movies are like a train wreck. Others are like waves on a beach: pretty, predictable, and about just as boring. And then there are some those that leave you wondering what you would've done in that situation. Damage is one such. A powerful British politician has an affair with his son's fiancée, culminating in the son's accidental death (after catching the two in the act, no less). The cold, selfish manner in which the minister and the son's fiancée indulge each others' sexual desires with no thought whatsoever to the lives of the family they destroy is at once compelling and disgusting. It doesn't hurt that casting director Patsy Pollock picked just about the best possible actors for this project. Louis Malle directs, and everything else—the music, the cinematography, the sets—helped create a brilliant piece of art. Now this is what a romance should be like—powerful enough to destroy empty if socially successful lives… not the kind of insipid mush Hollywood loves to churn out season after season.

Bereft of the usual pitfalls that plague similar films comes this jewel from Wayfare Entertainment. There's none of the contrived intra-crew drama to distract us from the meat of the plot, which is a mission to Europa to explore the possibility of life. Some may complain that this film lacks the sort of action or adventure one would normally expect from this kind of fare, and yes, they may be right. There are no model-turned-astronauts with perfect cheekbones flashing their perfect bodies; no hotshot saving the day; no steamy romance; no one going through unneeded gut-wrenching trauma to demonstrate agonizing character development. Heck, there's not even an Alien-style monster with claws and teeth chasing the crew as it looks for lunch. But why do you need all that when you have the simple, sheer terror of being in a tin can 390 million miles away from the nearest rest stop? You land on a frozen desert, find the unexpected, and while dealing with that, things fall apart. The only thing left to do is die. Director Sebastian Cordero directs this refreshingly scientifically-accurate, found-footage style film with the help of NASA. The acting is superb. It's a pity this film did not get the kind of buzz Gravity got—it does a whole lot more with a whole lot less. Check it out.

Tom Hardy single-handedly rescues this TNG film by his compelling performance as Shinzon, the Reman Praetor who's bent on taking out his rage on humanity after using Picard - the originator of his genetic material – to keep himself alive. There's the nagging feeling that a key crew member was axed simply to give this movie some emotional depth (not that it works) - but Baird shouldn't have bothered: Hardy's fury is powerful enough to keep things going. The contrived plot has the Enterprise being lured to the Romulan border by the discovery of Data's retarded relative, a move which puts the Starfleet flagship right where Shinzon wants it. As it's now the closest ship to the Romulan empire, Starfleet orders Picard to meet with Shinzon for a requested diplomatic meeting. Picard complies, only to discover the real - if morbid - reason behind the request. Confrontations ensue as the Enterprise crew scrambles to stop Shinzon from reaching his insane goal. The film does seem stodgy and predictable at times, but I like it, despite the hundreds of crappy reviews (born from the collective wrath of enraged Trekkies) that liberally pepper the internet.