Musings of An Addled Mind

panda-arts: Pokemon X/Y official Rival art

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:54 +0800

panda-arts:

Pokemon X/Y official Rival art

yourfinalrescue: I have to admit, this was a nice...

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:00:47 +0800

yourfinalrescue:

I have to admit, this was a nice surprise.

Very unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome.

gretel-cinemania: Star Trek Into DarknessPremiere in Russia 16...

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:00:31 +0800

gretel-cinemania:

Star Trek Into Darkness
Premiere in Russia 16 May

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:00:34 +0800

paulyfistfight: This shirt will be available to preorder soon...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:00:27 +0800

paulyfistfight:

This shirt will be available to preorder soon in both men’s and women’s tanks.

White design on black.

Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cxdclothing

And instagram

Http://www.instagram.com/cxdclothing

For updates on the new items and general info.

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:22 +0800

theycrywolfe: Never seen a cut like this. Cool, I LOVE the...

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:32 +0800

theycrywolfe:

Never seen a cut like this. Cool, I LOVE the gray.

jeffkilledyou: Goodnight/Sleep tight

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:00:44 +0800

jeffkilledyou:

Goodnight/Sleep tight

icannotwhatthe fanfic and what

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:00:35 +0800

i

cannot

what

the fanfic and what

slumberfish: but he’s trying really hard not to cry

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:00:45 +0800

slumberfish:

but he’s trying really hard not to cry

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:41 +0800

unimodus: Star Trek - Apocalypse AU please can this be a...

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:39 +0800

unimodus:

Star Trek - Apocalypse AU

please can this be a thing

theartofanimation: Joel Jurion

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:37 +0800

theartofanimation:

Joel Jurion

kinkjolras: blindterezi: sassyterrorist2: Hey what’s the most times you can masturbate without...

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:46 +0800

kinkjolras:

blindterezi:

sassyterrorist2:

Hey what’s the most times you can masturbate without dying

so this is the ultimate question

the answer to life the universe and everything

tombraiderr: Battle for Earth

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:55 +0800

tombraiderr:

Battle for Earth

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 03:00:51 +0800

elysionsprincess: vanehsensei: slenderlock: singarequiem: techno4tomcats: People are insane on...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:00:25 +0800

elysionsprincess:

vanehsensei:

slenderlock:

singarequiem:

techno4tomcats:

People are insane on this product review of a banana slicer

No seriously

oh my fucking god

OH MY GOD I REBLOGGED THIS BEFORE I READ THE COMMENTS AND
HOLY FUCK

I CAN’T BREATHE

“I tried the banana slicer and found it unacceptable. As shown in the picture, the slices is curved from left to right. All of my bananas are bent the other way.”

Thoughts on Star Trek: Into Darkness

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:03:36 +0800

Other than the fact that Star Trek: Into Darkness felt like a loving, lingering caress to a man’s undercarriage (that’s ballsacs for you and me), it felt like the validation that the first movie hadn’t knobbed off to a climax. The sequel confirms that the ’09 reprise is this generation’s Star Trek without signs of dad-shaming or radicalization- just a surplus of feelings that can power entire third-world nations with its ability to induce spasms. There’s also the matter of imbalance in the portrayals of characters, which can easily be explained without wank, but it’ll still sound like a load exploded across an unwilling face.

The load mentioned above refers to the pragmatic portrayals of the key bridge members, and the contrast it provides to those who are given longer than an Anton Yelchin Moneyshot. It is understandable why certain characters are given less development and others (i.e. Kirk and Spock) a shocking expansion, and for this film, it’s a very welcome schism.

McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov are a welcome source of humor, and they provide the pockets of air needed between very, very tense situations. Their functions cannot be helped but be compared to that of their Original Series counterparts, since there are so many throwbacks to the series. McCoy as a fatherly (motherly?) voice by Jim’s side, unknowingly agreeable to Spock’s methodologies; Scotty as the oft underrated and undervalued member of the crew; and Chekov as…. Chekov.

Let me get back to you on that one.

Uhura’s more feminine personality here strikes a delicate balance between the cold, metro personality Zoe Saldana’s portrayal has and the warmth that Nichelle Nicols had in playing the character. Here, it really does feel like TOS’ Uhura- whether it is a good or bad thing is ultimately up to those who favor either series. Sulu continues to be an unexpected badass, and though his “fencing” skills didn’t come into play, the image of George Takei in “The Naked Time” episode, piercing the air with his foil while half-naked, comes to mind.

It can be postulated that, barring the key roles they had in saving both the Enterprise and inter-galactic peace, their roles are completely that of plot coupons, and the only show of character they have are their uniform changes (by the way, the white of McCoy’s formal uniform? Hugged dat ass). However, it must always be stressed that within the constrictions of the medium, they possessed enough sense of history and personality to become people, not merely stand-ins or Chekov’s.

I am really, really sorry about that. I’ll stop.

Kudos to Chris Pine, who has shown a likeable new James Tiberius Kirk in the previous movie, as he shows his acting chops in maturing his Kirk without it feeling like a hammer bashing the viewer’s head in. His portrayal of Kirk is surprisingly deep- the playfulness strips away from his character elegantly and changes with every scene. Kirk’s fixation, his messianic complex, seeps from every interaction he has with his crew and command.

It is the single driving force of the film, rivaling Khan’s own mania, and it forces me to recall William Shatner’s portrayal of this mania in TOS’ “Obsession”. In that episode, the roguish-yet-professional hero that Kirk is always seen as is transformed into a being consumed- haunted –by the death of his former crew. The darkness that can be palpably felt from the portrayal transfers here and is magnified a thousand-fold, especially as it isn’t only Kirk who feels the boring hunger that this consumption leaves.

Zachary Quinto’s Spock is a whole different Vulcan than Leonard Nimoy’s. Whereas the original dropped his shields often to those he trusted and with no hesitation, Quinto’s Spock still strives for the Vulcan perfection he has yet to shed. It would’ve been beautiful, even resonant to “The Wrath of Khan”, if things would’ve gone the same way, but it is a necessary evil in terms of character and plot that it was Spock who experienced seeing his friend die.

And by that moment, the film already made its Chris Pine’s Crying Face quota, so yeah.

As much as I already feel like a prat, I further this feeling by using the word “nuanced”. Spock here is nuanced with humanity. He hides, he grows apathetic, he clutches on to pulls of great emotions. He explains, like a boy in puberty, what he feels and doesn’t want to feel, to the few people he has left that he allows to see him in his full humanness. Could’ve gone the FREUD-FREUD route there, but everyone else has.

It is unavoidable that Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch’s Khan is spoken of because HOLY SHIT, HAVE YOU SEEN THAT SHIT. EVEN HIS BLOODY EYEBALLS CAN ACT. DID YOU LISTEN TO THAT MONOLOGUE, THERE WAS SO MUCH EMOTION UNDER THAT THIN VENEER OF CALM BARITONE, AND THOSE FUCKING EYEBALLS SLOWLY WELLING UP AND IT LOOKS SO OSCAR-WORTHY IN IMAX. THEN THAT SINGLE FUCKING TEAR FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER TEAR AND THAT SPLIT-SECOND WHERE HE CATCHES HIMSELF AND IS LIKE, “NO. MY PEOPLE NEED ME”.

AND THEN THAT PART WHERE HE WAS “YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME SLEEP” LIKE THAT ONE ODD ROOMMATE YOU ACCIDENTALLY WOKE UP WITH YOUR ALARM CLOCK IN UNI. DON’T EVEN LET ME GET STARTED ON THOSE EYEBALLS AND THE POINTS IN CONVERSATIONS WHERE HIS FOREHEAD WRINKLES CHANGE AND IT SUDDENLY CHANGES THE FLAVOR OF HIS DARK CHOCOLATE WORDS. THEN THERE’S THE BITS WHERE HIS STIFF, DISCIPLINED POSTURE SLINKS INTO A BADASS WARRIOR STANCE AND HIS RUNNING. HIS RUNNING FORM IS SURPRISINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

Sorry. Will calm down now.

Khan here is far more refined than his original, the adaptation and the new generation of viewers part being the obvious reasons why this is so. With this portrayal though, it is easier to see the similarities between him and Kirk, to see why he is such a huge threat, and that the series would continue beyond this movie because he’s alive and Kirk needs to wear the sexy green fat shirt. And there needs to be a well-adjusted David Marcus that doesn’t have Justin Timberlake-noodle hair.

Khan was such a well-portrayed character that he overwhelms the others even when off-screen. Competing with Kirk’s obsession is his wrath, and it’s the competition of these intense infatuations that ultimately underplays the film.

All the tension and excitement the audience feels are burgeoning from the inside. While there are nail-biting and ass-kicking moments where one might feel like punching the air, the film compresses most of its action within the viewers. It’s actually refreshing coming from J.J. Abrams, who has toned down his love affair with lens flares in turn for making the writers’ material into a less-morbid version of Hannibal Lecter’s entrees: one can be content with the outside deliciousness, but delve in deeper, and there’s a whole history waiting to be sussed out.

I did say less-morbid.

The internal battle-of-wills seen here was already present in The Original Series. What sets it apart is the openness, the willingness of people to show it to others. The pain tasted here, considering that most of its audience will probably have no previous experience of the series, has so many textures, even if it is an experience that only lasts for two hours. Is it symptomatic of the complete lack of subterfuge in the modern age, or am I just trying to make this longer than it should be?

Who knows? I need to watch it again to be sure.

POSSIBLE STAR TREK SPOILERS

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:33:57 +0800

PREVIEW of a post I will make later

Photo

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:00:24 +0800